Ryou's Cousin Harry's 'other' Family
by Dizzy Away
Summary: Harry meets his cousin, and knows there is more than meet the eye. Ryou meets his, and fears of his secret being told. And now, they're at Hogwarts, and things become more complicated than usual...
1. Chapter 1

~~What' cha doing?~~ Bakura asked through the mindlink. ~Looking for my Uncle.~ He answered simply, a bit ticked. ~~Well there he is!~~ ~Where?~ ~~The guy with the sign! I think your name is Ryou Bakura, unless you changed it without telling me~~ Ryou sighed, relieved that he found him as he walked toward the man with the sign. "Hi. You're Ryou, right?" Ryou nodded. "Yes. Are you my uncle." He asked suspiciously. This certainly didn't look like any uncle of his. The man chuckled. "No. I'm afraid you're uncle is whole lot grouchier than me. You're very lucky you're a guest and not a family member. They're very judgmental of people." He said as he led him along to a station wagon. The man unlocked the door and motioned for him to get in.  
  
About an hour later, the two finally arrived at the Dursleys. Carefully making sure that his ring was safely tucked under his shirt, not to mention trying not to laugh out loud at his Yami's comments, he rung the doorbell. A black-haired green-eyed boy opened it, and before saying anything he simply looked for a moment. ~~What's up with him?~~ Ryou scoffed mentally. ~It's not him! It's me!~ Bakura clenched his fists. ~~I swear one comment about the hair and I will personally send him to the shadow realm!~~ "Umm. Hi! You must be Ryou. I'm Harry, Harry Potter." He held his hand to shake, which Ryou took. ~~No comments yet, but weird looks. he's on his way~~ Ryou smiled. To an outsider, not one would guess they were related. They were exact opposites, Ryou with his white hair and deep ebony eyes, and Harry, with the jet-black hair and vibrant emerald eyes. "Well, come on in." Harry motioned. "I have to warn you of Dudley. He's a bit. overbearing and... Large." As they came into the living room, Ryou realized 'large' was by far an understatement. He was at least as large as a young killer whale, if not bigger. "Uh. thanks." Ryou said timidly before being engulfed by stares. At this, Bakura immediately took over. "What are you looking at?!" He asked before letting Ryou regain control. Ryou blushed as he ran up the stairs into the one room that didn't look occupied. Harry ran up after him, wondering what could set him off like that. The door was closed, but what he heard through it shocked him.  
  
"You baka, what were you thinking, taking over like that! I could have handled it!" Said a first voice that sounded like Ryou. "I was getting tired of the stares! You're lucky I didn't send the lot of them to the shadow realm!" A darker, more vicious voice answered. "Oh, you had your fun, now go away! I swear, if anything like that should happen again, you will not be allowed to split or take over!" The first voice hissed. "I can take over when I wish, and I don't need to split from you! Taking over would be much easier!" The second voice threatened. A weird sound came from inside the room, and Harry heard footsteps coming towards the door. Harry ran to his bedroom and shut the door swiftly before Ryou came out looking more than slightly ruffled.  
  
"Um, Ryou. I have to ask you something." Harry requested timidly. Ryou raised his eyes from the paper he was working on. "Yes?" Harry looked around fervently, making sure no one else was around to hear. "Are you attending a school called Hogwarts this year?" Ryou thought for a moment. "My father told me I was coming England to attend a school, but I never quite caught the name." He answered before swirling around. "Harry? Aren't owls nocturnal?" He asked rather nervously. Harry looked at the window. "Not when they're delivering. This is for you, but it's not from Dumbledore." He handed Ryou a letter. Ryou opened it carefully, trying not to rip this sandy paper the envelope was made of. "It's from Isis!" He said excitedly as he ripped the covering off, no longer bothering with neatness. "Isis?" Harry asked. "A good friend of mine. She lives in Cairo, though, so I haven't seen her since the tournament." He explained, although leaving out some important details. "Oh, don't worry, she's much older than I am." He said with a blush after seeing the expression on Harry's face. It read:  
  
Dear Ryou,  
  
I trust that you are doing well. Malik is much better since the last time you saw him, but I think one look at the Grave Robber would put him back to his old tricks. I hope he's been in line since I last saw him. You tell me if he's not, I'll take care of it. Now to other things.  
  
I am told you are to attend a school called Hogwarts. How am I aware of this? Well, yeah, the tauk, but that's not it. Malik was accepted as well, along with Kaiba and Yugi. You know as well as I do that Malik is hardly allowed out of the house without either me or Rishid, due to his profuse temper. So, I have applied for Defense against the dark arts professor.  
  
Ryou looked up. "What's Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Harry looked at him for a moment, and answered. "It's a class at Hogwarts. Why?" Ryou glanced back down at the letter. "Professor Ishtar. Doesn't that sound lovely." Harry blinked a few seconds. "Huh? Professor Ishtar? Who's that?" Ryou smiled. "Apparently Isis Ishtar." He said before going back to the letter.  
  
I hope you're enjoying you're stay in England. I'll see you in Diagon Alley. Yugi and Kaiba will be there with us, so if you see the pharaoh running around wild in places you're pretty sure he shouldn't be, then tell him to get back to his hikari immediately or else suffer the wrath of me 'borrowing' the rod. I don't think anyone should know of the darks unless absolutely necessary, with the sole exception of Professor Dumbledore. At this moment, I want you to take this letter or shove it down your throat. Or make Bakura do it.  
Love,  
~Isis~  
Seeing this, Bakura laughed and snickered in his soul room. Ryou got annoyed and shut himself in his, forcing Bakura to take over. Bakura immediately seized the opportunity to go find a certain pig, and maybe give his man-eater bug a treat. Harry asked where he was going, and he answered with a grin, "To feed a pet of mine." ~~So, Ryou, should we eat him or sacrifice him?~~ He asked, smirking the whole way down the stairs. "I don't want to get sick! You should dress him up like a pig and throw a party for Yami's god cards. Then, next time we duel them, he can't use Slypher, Osiris, or Ra!~ He answered, knowing that was what his Yami would want to hear. He could hear the lunatic raving through the door about something or other. ~~Ah ha, what a smart little hikari you are!~~  
  
The next few days were pretty uneventful. The Dursleys took him sightseeing a lot, to the zoo, the park, to the 'London Bridge'. They kept him away from Harry as much as possible, but as much as they tried to keep the two apart, they were becoming fast friends. They shared both the secret of magic, and the detest of Dudley. But Bakura just made it all the more difficult. Whenever Ryou let him take over, he even looked different. And Harry definitely noticed. Ryou knew this, for Harry also acted somewhat different when Bakura was in control. He looked a bit. scared. He didn't know what happened, but he knew when. He never told anyone, but when you considered this wasn't the kind of thing you could write in a letter that may be intercepted, and there was no one nearby worth telling, it really didn't matter. Ryou and Bakura had a long discussion about this. ~You need to be more subtle! You act too different from me, and he's noticing! You know what Isis said! No one needs to know about the Millennium Items, it could be too dangerous!~ Bakura sighed. ~~So you want me to sit around all day like a little goody-two-shoes and simply not enjoy my time out of the ring?~~ Ryou smiled grimly. ~Yeah, basically.~ He answered. ~~I have more fun stealing stuff from your soul room!~~ Bakura pouted. ~What! Forget it. Tell you what. Next time we go out to some famous place of England, we'll split. I'll go back with the Dursleys and you can wander around all day. You know how to sense when I'm near, and you're obviously good at hiding, so just keep out of sight.~ Ryou offered. Bakura though for a few seconds. ~~How will I return to the ring from a distance if I need to?~~ He asked. ~We can talk through the link, and arrange a place where you'll be near enough to return.~ Ryou suggested. Bakura smiled and nodded enthusiastically.  
  
~~We're going to the zoo.~~ Bakura said, astonished such a boring thing could be thought up. ~Yeah, but you'll be on your own for once. But I swear, if I find one zookeeper or a lion or something in the shadow realm, I'm shipping you back to Isis in Cairo!~ Ryou answered, terribly annoyed at his Yami. ~~Ahh. think of all the things I can do to precious Egypt!~~ Ryou blinked a few times. ~To Japan then, to live with the pharaoh!~ Bakura shook his index finger. ~~No, Yugi-chan is going too~~ Ryou shook his head in frustration, accidentally whipping Dudley with the ends. "Hey!" He yelled. Ryou pretended to blush, and murmured a soft apology. They drove up into the parking lot, and looking out the window he made out the figure of, "Yugi!!" He said aloud. Petunia turned from her seat and looked at Ryou with his face pressed up against the window. Ryou blushed. "He's a friend. from home." He quickly explained. She nodded as she let out her breath. ~~The pharaoh!~~ Bakura exclaimed as he pushed Ryou into his soul room and took over himself. "I'm going to go see what in the world he's doing in England. Last time I checked, he couldn't even speak English." He imitated Ryou's voice perfectly as he hopped out of the minivan. He was careful not to let Harry see his face, he could sense he was trying to see. Vernon and Petunia watched the boy run fervently toward the gates in awe.  
  
"Pharaoh." Bakura greeted in disgust. "Hello to you too, tomb robber." He answered as he looked up from his directory. "Switch to Arabic, people can hear." Bakura ordered in his native language. "Fine. But I think you should know, Isis knows yours and Ryou's little plan to split. And she doesn't want you to, stealthy as you may be." He pointed out. "Stupid tauk of hers!" Bakura muttered. "Not to mention that she's here to pick you and that Harry cousin of yours. Taking them out to the Woozle's or something. I suggest you tell Ryou and let him tell his cousin." He said as he walked into the gift shop. ~~Ryou, d' ya hear that?~~ Ryou nodded mentally as he gained control. The Dursleys, accompanied by Harry witnessed this as they followed Ryou. Ryou ignored the stares as he smiled and waved. "Hey Harry!" He yelled across the street. "You're being picked up as soon as I can figure out where Malik and Isis are hiding!" Ryou said excitedly as he grabbed Harry and ran. "Oh, and by the way, I'm a wizard too!" He yelled before the explosion.  
  
"What, are you crazy! You will be seriously lucky if the next time they see you they cast you off or kick you out!" Harry said quite truthfully. Ryou nodded. "Didn't you think I knew that! Besides, I seriously pride myself on being a bit crazy sometimes. Now be quiet and look for a blonde Egyptian with lavender eyes, a black-haired Egyptian, or a guy with three different hair colors, red, black and blonde. You spot one, you'll find the rest. Isis would never trust those two on their own." He said quietly as they looked all through the gift shop. "Oh, Yugi, you're not so hard to spot, so where are you." He sang softly. "Ah ha! Hey, Yugi, over here!" Yami turned around swiftly. "Oh, hey Ryou." The boy's facial features softened and seemed to get a bit shorter. "Hi Ryou. Looking for Isis too?" He greeted merrily. Ryou sweat dropped. "You mean you don't know where she is either!?" Yugi shook his head. "No, I know where she is, I just can't go in there." He pointed to the girls bathroom. Ryou blushed. "Oh.." He muttered. "And Malik?" He asked. "Right here!" Malik popped up out of nowhere. "That Harry?' Malik pointed at the boy. Ryou nodded. "Yeah." Malik waved. "I gotta ask you something." Ryou animé fell. This was going to take a while.  
  
"Ron!!" Harry yelled excitedly as they pulled up to the burrow. ~~The burrow? Do they call it that cause it's so small only rabbits could live in it?~~ Yami Bakura asked. ~No, they don't! Now shut up before I space out again, and make me look all weird and stuff!~ Ryou ordered stubbornly. ~~Geez, someone's certainly not feeling well!~~ He said before returning to his soul room. "Ryou. Ryou." Yugi waved his hand in front of Ryou's face to no avail. "Uh. look out, Shadi's on the warpath again!" Malik said in Arabic. "Don't bother, he can't understand you, as atrocious as your accent is!" Isis chided. "Huh? Oh, sorry." Ryou quickly snapped out of it once he realized what was going on. ~~Well, that went well.~~ Bakura chuckled from inside his soul room. "Does that happen often?' Mrs. Weasley asked timidly. "Sometimes." Yugi answered for him. "He goes way too deep into thought sometimes. I imagine it happens to everyone once in a while. Most people don't have as much to think about though." He trailed off. Ryou grabbed his stuff, the few things he did have with him at the zoo, along with Harry. "The ministry will magic your things here. Don't worry." Isis reassured, noticing the look on Harry's face when he realized all he had was a bit of money in his pocket. "Come on up, you four. He said, more to Harry than to the three foreigners. As they walked into the house, two of Ron's brothers, Fred and George, looked up and gazed at Yugi, Ryou, and Malik. "Cool!" They said as they looked at each other excitedly. "It's natural." The three said by instinct. "It is?" Ron asked curiously. "Well, Yugi's hair has a little help," Malik pointed at the boy's blond bangs. "But otherwise, yeah, it's real." The two twins were now writing something down eagerly. "Thanks for the idea!" One of them popped up. Ron rolled his eyes. "If you hear mum yelling something about hair dye, please don't mind. Those two are always in some sort of trouble." Ron explained. "You three can stay in Bill and Charlie's room." He pointed to a room next to the one that Harry had just walked into. ~~Lemme out, lemme out!~~ Bakura begged. "Uh, yeah, thanks." Ryou muttered as he pushed Yugi and Malik in. "Okay!" He said aloud once he shut the door. "Thank you!" Bakura said as he stretched. "If he's out, so am I!" Yami also took advantage of the privacy. "Okay." Malik uttered softly. He still wasn't quite used to the two appearing out of nowhere. "A game anyone?"  
"Isis, I know, already!" Malik argued. "I know you know, for all the more reason to drill it in to your head farther! Just remember, keep your temper. I swear, if I have to set Yami on after you again," Malik put it off with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry, I got it all under control here." He smiled mischievously. Isis frowned. "You know, even if no one finds out that you get into trouble, I will know." Malik nodded, a glint still in his lavender eyes. Isis frowned again and turned to leave. "Oh, and, I suggest you make peace with the pharaoh. You may need him sooner than you think." She said as an afterthought as she left.  
  
"Dinner!" Mrs. Weasley hollered up the stairs. Bakura stared at Ryou, begging to take over, if just to eat. "Absolutely not! I think Harry can honestly tell the difference between you and me!" Ryou warned. "So what?" The tomb robber replied, obviously not phased. "The answer is no." Bakura pouted. "Fine, but you have to bring me something up to eat!" He ordered, right before that weird sound that seemed to suck Bakura back into the ring. Ryou knew that it would be hard to keep his Yami a secret. What he didn't know is that somebody already knew.  
  
~Ginny's POV~  
  
As I was about to knock on the door to tell Ryou that it was dinnertime, I heard something that shocked me greatly. The door was slightly open, so I peered in to see if he was ready. What I saw scared me into a jolt. When I looked in, it was like from one of the books Charlie had once sent me, only different in a way. There were two Ryou's! Well, actually, they didn't look exactly the same, but they had the same skinny figure, the same long, white hair, not to mention they were wearing the same exact outfit. But one of them looked like the Ryou I had seen earlier, and the other. more evil. It sounds silly, I know, but it was true. There was a certain glint in the other's eyes, a glint I had seen many times in Fred or George's eyes, but it wasn't as bright. He wasn't up to simple mischief at all. He was after something more dangerous than ton-tongue toffees or turning a few people into canaries. There was much more to him. The one I recognized as the real Ryou, though, didn't seem scared or worried about him. He looked perfectly comfortable talking to him about food or something, I really didn't catch the conversation. I heard a sound like a giant fan being put on reverse, and saw Ryou put something under his shirt before coming towards the door. I knew I had to move before he caught me there, but I couldn't at all. He opened the door and saw me before I could do anything.  
  
~Normal POV~  
  
Ryou's eyes opened wide once he realized that Ginny had saw him talking to Bakura. He quickly shoved her into the room. "You saw me, didn't you." Bakura appeared right in front of her. Knowing that now he had appeared, there was no way out, she said, "Yes. I did." She said, starting to cry. "Weakling! Not even little Ryou would cry before a lesson, and I've managed to change since then." He said in a very cocky voice. "Yami.." Ryou was cut off by Bakura. "Don't worry, little Ryou. I won't do anything. yet." He got up close to Ginny's face. "I can promise you, if you tell anyone. and I mean anyone about your little sightseeing, I will send you to a place worse than death. Your body will remain a useless shell, unable to think or talk. Much like a rock." He said before once again disappearing with that sound. "Ginny.. Are you okay?" Ryou went up to comfort Ginny, knowing for himself that Bakura could be extremely nerve-racking when he felt like it. Ginny simply sat there, still crying. "Don't worry about him. He won't hurt you, I promise. But you really can't tell." He warned. "Like he said, don't even risk it in a diary." He said, making Ginny giggle a bit. "I'm sorry.." Ryou said, feeling very confused. Ginny just giggled a bit more. "It's just that. two years ago. I had a bit of a run-in with a rather mad diary. It turned out that it had conserved the memory of Tom Riddle, who is known to most as You-know-who. I just think it's a bit ironic you should mention that." She explained. By now, her tears had dried. "If you really need to know more about him, don't talk to me, because he could take over my body and simply do something like that again, so make sure you're in private and talk to Yugi or Malik. They could probably tell you more interesting things about him than I could anyway. I never remember what happens when he takes over, anyway." He told her with a smile before leaving her to her own thoughts. 


	2. Chapter 2

I didn't say this last chapter, but this is Ryou/Bakura centered. No romance yet, though. I'm loosely considering some fluff with Ginny, though. *laughs evilly* Oh, and if you reviewed me, and I didn't give a response, then it's not my fault! I just haven't checked my email for the last three weeks. Anyway, a lot of it may have a bit of shounen-ai fluffiness, so if you don't like it, either get over it or stop reading! Until the end of this chapter, ja ne!  
  
"Hello, how nice of you to join us, Ginny." Mrs. Weasley said coldly. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasley, she and I were talking and I think I might have made her a bit upset. I'm sorry. " Ryou stood up and apologized. Ginny nodded once. "Yes." She agreed as she sat down. Malik was just ignoring everything in sight except for the food, whish he was scarfing down quicker than Jounouchi or Honda would. Noticing this, Ryou whispered something quietly in Arabic. "Yugi, Ginny saw Bakura." Yugi choked on his food. "WHAT!!" He exclaimed, his mouth still stuffed with mashed potatoes. Ryou nodded fervently. "Yeah, well, don't let the whole world know." Ryou said sarcastically. "But what if she tells someone?" Yugi asked, alarmed. "Well, I don't think she will, she was threatened." Ryou answered calmly. "I don't know. what if she does? I mean, she doesn't seem the type to really care about threats if she thinks it's dangerous." Ryou rolled his eyes. "Is that your line or Yami's." Yugi laughed a bit. "It was pretty lame. We'll talk later, when Malik isn't absorbed in his food." He said with a slight grimace on his face. "So tell me," Mr. Weasley asked once he saw the two boys were done talking. "How did you get from Japan to England?" Harry smiled. "It was an airplane." Ryou answered. "An aero-plane? I've heard of those, the kind that fly?" Ryou smiled. "Yeah." "Just like a broom, dad." Said Ron.  
"Where's Ginny?" Ron asked curiously. He hadn't seen her since dinner, and considering Harry was here, that was amazing. "I haven't seen her. Have you checked outside?" Fred said uninterested. Ron sighed. "Fred, can you keep a secret?" Fred thought for a moment. "No." He finally answered truthfully. Ron rolled his eyes and went back upstairs to talk to Harry instead. As he walked into the room, he saw Harry sitting on the bed, his face as though he was arguing with himself. "Harry, anyone home?" Harry blinked a few times before answering. "No, I'm at Hermione's house. It's a lovely place, really." He said sarcastically. "Ron just rolled his eyes for the second time in the last five minutes. "You know your cousin, that Ryou kid?" Harry nodded. "Don't you think it's a bit weird, that they didn't send you to live with them. From what I see, he's a better cousin than Dudley would ever be." Harry took a deep breath. "That's what I was thinking about. But, from what I heard the other day back at the Dursleys kind of made me think too." Ron raised his eyebrows. "Yes?" "He was talking to himself. Well, more yelling at himself. But there were two different voices, a nicer one, and a more vicious one too. It was scary, the evil voice was threatening the light." Harry replied, a bit hasty. "And what do you think of the other two. They already know one another, and they're constantly talking in some odd language to each other." Harry asked Ron. "It's Arabic, I heard it when we went to see Bill in Egypt. I'm just trying to figure out where they learned it."  
  
"Ryou Thomas Bakura! Where in the world did that bruise come from?" Yugi accused, pointing to a bruise on Ryou's left shoulder. Ryou glared at Yugi, knowing what he was assuming. "It was a cookbook, as if it matters to you!" He answered hotly. "Okay, okay, sorry!" Yugi held up his hands. "I have a reason." Ryou sighed. "I'm just tired of being jumped at every time I get a little scratch, okay!" Malik frowned. "Well, you wouldn't have to deal with it if you didn't try to keep what he does to you a secret." He pointed out. "But he doesn't do anything to me! Not anymore, anyway, so just cut it out!" Ryou cried. "Okay, whatever, now what's this about Ginny?" Malik got to the point. "Ginny knows about Bakura, that's all. Bakura already threatened her with the shadow realm, though, so I really don't think we'll have a problem." Yugi explained. "And if we do?" Malik inquired. "We can't send her to the shadow realm, what will anyone have to do with an empty shell?" He went on. Yami split from Yugi. "Well, as I see it, we could teach her to wash dishes and send her to Egypt." Yugi rolled his own eyes. "Stick to the present, Yami." Ryou frowned. "Well, I really don't think we have anything to worry about. She blabs, we'll just convince whoever she told that she was lying. How many people will believe that there are two souls in one body?" He asked. "But we don't know that much about this place! What if it's like, a sign of evil or something? What if they think we're possessed by ghosts or something?" Yugi pointed out. "Well, technically it would be true." Malik said. "Not helping!" Ryou and Yugi told him at the same time. "What about telling her how important it is? It might help." Yami suggested. Ryou sighed. "I already told her a bit. I said she could talk to the two of you if she wanted, but no one else." Malik yawned. "Why don't you go get her, then. Right now would be a perfect opportunity." He recommended.  
  
"Ryou?" Harry called timidly when he saw the white haired boy walking down the stairs. Bakura, who had just split from Ryou to go get Ginny, screwed up his voice and his face before turning around. "Yes?" He copied his hikari's voice perfectly. "Have you seen Ginny? We've been looking for her." He asked. "Actually, I'm going looking for her right now. Yugi and Malik need to meet her." He said, being careful not to say 'Ryou'. "Okay," Harry said. "Just let her know we were looking for her." Bakura nodded.  
  
"Ginny, oh Ginny. 'Kura is getting impatient here." Bakura hummed. "Oh, hello." Ginny looked up from her little hiding spot under a tree. Bakura's eyes brightened when he saw the small hut. It reminded him of something else. "Ryou and the other hikaris want you." He said, still looking around the getaway. "Okay." She replied calmly as she put down the book she was reading and led Bakura back up the stairs. "How did you find me? Not even Fred and George have found me there." She asked casually. Bakura cringed at the memory of constantly getting Ryou out hiding. "Experience, I guess." He answered lamely as he held the door open for her.  
  
"Ah, if it isn't the oh so famous Ginny Weasley." Yami half-sneered half smiled, making Ginny nervous. "Yugi has another half too?" She asked Ryou. Yugi nodded for him. "We all think it's important for you to know why they're here." Yami said. Ryou pulled his ring out from under his shirt, and Yugi simply took his puzzle off. Ginny looked amazed as she put her hand out to touch it. "Look, but don't touch. I'm not responsible for what happens whenever someone pisses him off." He said quite frankly. Ginny giggled, looking at the serious Yugi look-alike in comparison to the innocent-looking real Yugi. "I'll keep that in mind." She said as she sat down next to Ryou on the bed, making Bakura glare. He picked her up and sat in between the two. "My hikari." He mumbled. Yugi laughed, knowing that Yami probably would have done the same thing. "So what is it you wanted to tell me?" She asked. Yami looked somewhat surprised that she was so calm. "Uh." He started. "You see, it's really complicated. but uh. well, you see, there are two of us, except for Malik because first of all, his Yami is a murderer, and secondly, because he's in a different situation than the two of us." Bakura cut him off. "Blah, blah, blah, ya da, ya da, ya da. Anyway, what this excuse of a pharaoh is trying to say is that we're five thousand years old, and have been sealed in the millennium items until Ryou and Yugi freed us by being destined or whatever for the items. Yugi, though, only has one." He smirked at Yami. "I, on the other hand, have two." He took the millennium eye out from his pocket. "Hey!" Ryou yelled. "I was by no means aware that he stole that, so don't blame me." He said, more to Yami and Yugi than to Ginny, who he was looking at. "Now, now, Ryou. Certainly you didn't think that I would pass up the opportunity for a perfectly good Sennen Eye!" Ryou rolled his eyes. "Whatever, hand it over." Bakura pouted as he gave it to his light, who stuffed it in his backpack. "You just wait till Isis gets a hold of this one!" Malik sighed. "She probably already knows." He said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Anyway, for the sake of the thief and the overprotective pharaoh over there, I will now explain further. You see, five thousand years ago, Bakura over here was a tomb raider, and Yami there was pharaoh of all Egypt." He explained. "You see, times then were tough. Not only was Egypt in economical terror, a place called the shadow realm was wreaking havoc everywhere. Back then, according to Isis anyway, there was a thing called shadow games. Only certain people could ever play them, though, because it required an incredible amount of spirit energy. In other words, you pretty much had to be destined to play. Anyway, thanks to a certain high priest, the games had to be sealed away in the seven millennium items." He passed the mental baton to Ryou. "Yeah, and Yami had to give up his soul. So did Bakura, somehow, but he might have already been dead, not even Isis knows. But anyway, my dad gave me the ring, and Yugi's grandpa gave him the puzzle, which he solved, which was incredibly amazing because it hadn't been solved in five thousand years. Get it?" Ginny's eyes widened. "What other powers do those items have?" Yugi thought for a moment. "Well, my puzzle allows either me or Yami to play a batsu-game on any person we please. But if we lose. well, we're destroyed and sent to the shadow realm. And Ryou's ring points to whatever he's looking for, whether it be a person or a thing or just a place. And he can send anyone he wishes straight to the shadow realm. And Malik's millennium rod can take over a mind." Malik held up his item. "Anyway, someone finds out, and we could be in great danger. I don't know how many death threats I've had from people trying to get their grubby hands on this puzzle." Ginny thought for a moment. "And Professor Dumbledore?' She asked. "We will tell Dumbledore-sensei, of course." Yami said. Ginny smiled.  
  
"Yami's hyper." Yugi commented sadly as he sat down for breakfast that morning, making Malik giggle like crazy. "Coffee is a perfectly normal drink, Yami." He quoted Yugi from earlier. "Poor Ryou, he had coffee last night too. can you just imagine how much energy Bakura's using up?! He must be horrible to share a body with." Yugi shook his head in mock pity before bursting out in laughter. "Don't you hate the time change? It's three am, and we're on a coffee high. We're pathetic." Malik yawned. "Yup." Yugi replied as he took another sip of coffee. "What are you two doing up so early?" Ryou asked as he walked downstairs. "Time change." They replied in unison. "Go ahead and let Yami out. No one will be up for another three hours at least." Ryou suggested. "You look like he's using up a lot of energy inside you." Yugi shook his head. "He's a new Seto now. A coffee addict." He explained. "So are you two, I see." He said, acknowledging the almost empty coffee can. "Why not, this stuff is good!" Malik exclaimed. Ryou sat down at the table in between the two. "Ryou, your hair!" Yugi eyes widened. "It's blue! I mean, in the front it isn't, but in the back. it's bright blue!" Ryou nodded. "Yeah, I know. I just didn't feel like waking up Fred and George. Yami 'll convince 'em later though. Told him he could, but just this once. Can't let him get out of hand. again." He laughed softly before sinking completely into thought. ~~What are you doing up at this ungodly hour!! What's more, why in the world am I awake!~~ Ryou smiled inwardly. ~I don't know, why don't you go back to sleep then.~ Bakura growled. ~~But I'm hungry!~~ He answered pathetically. Ryou laughed out loud. "What joke did I miss?" Yugi questioned sleepily. ~Eat then!~ He laughed as he walked into his soul room, leaving Bakura in control. "Oh, hello." Malik yawned as he downed another cup of coffee. "Food." Bakura focused on the pantry. He opened it and looked through the random cartons of some sort of wizard foods. "Finally! NORMAL FOOD!!" He cackled as he tore open a box of Cheerios and seemed to eat it all in one swallow. "Mm." He said before his 'horns' and other features softened. "Why do I suddenly feel like throwing up?" He asked before running straight to the bathroom. Malik just shrugged before making another cup of coffee.  
  
"Wow. I like Ryou." Fred said to George, staring at their own new hairstyles. It was now longish, like Ryou's own, but more multicolored with random streaks of orange, black, pink, and blue all through their normally red hair. Needless to say to all you Ryou fans out there, it wasn't Ryou who had done this, but rather Bakura, who had looked through all their stuff to find the dyes, but not leaving a trace that he had been there. To Fred and George, it was sheer brilliance, but to their mother.  
  
"FRED!!! GEORGE!!!" Mrs. Weasley yelled up the stairs after one glance at Ryou, who couldn't help but giggle at the twin's new hair, even though he knew it was wrong. "Yeah, mum?" They said innocently. Mrs. Weasley's face turned an odd shade of lavender. "No, really, it's okay, Mrs. Weasley. I actually like it. In fact, I practically asked for it, considering I did theirs first. It was only fair that they got me back." Ryou covered, giving her his best cute chibi smile. Mrs. Weasley calmed down a bit. "Well, I guess as long as you don't mind. but I swear, boys, one more incident like this and I'll set Percy on you!!" (A/N: Sorry, I just hate Percy. can't blame me though, he's perfect! *runs off sulking*) Fred and George winked at Ryou, motioning him along to their 'lab', which was actually just their closet. "How'd you find the dyes? And how'd you get our hair longer?" They asked. Ryou just smiled. "Just a bit of magic of my own." He grinned as he left. "Oh, and thanks for the laugh. I don't think I've ever seen Yugi Muto get so worked up at three am."  
"Harry, I'm still a bit worried about those three foreigners. They seem to drive one another nuts constantly, and yet they're really secretive around each other. And that one Malik. Well, from the way his sister was talking to him, it seemed he was like in the wrong crowd. 'Just remember, keep your temper' I remember Bill saying that in Arabic, that's how I understood it. And she said Pharaoh several times, but that doesn't make sense either. Do you get any of it?" Ron took a deep breath, considering he had said all that in two breaths. Harry shook his head. "Maybe we should ask Professor Dumbledore when we get to Hogwarts." He suggested. "Or Hermione." He added.  
  
"Who what?" Malik asked, extremely confused why Mr. Weasley was holding up a flowerpot of bright green sand. Harry explained. "It's Floo powder. Not my favorite way of traveling, but, hey, it normally works. All you have to do is take a bit of powder, yell wherever your going into the fireplace, toss it in and then just step in." Malik blinked a few times. "I'm a tomb guarder, not a coal walker." He said blandly. Ryou hit him upside the head. "You won't be either of those if you don't shut up and do what he says." He hissed inside his ear. Yugi just sighed and watched the battle commence between the two. actually, three, but nobody else knew that, so the numbers really didn't matter. The two twins went first, then Ron, then Harry, and then."Uh.are you sure they didn't just burn up?" Mrs. Weasley laughed. "No, of course not dear. Just be careful to say the name right, and don't hit the walls." She advised. Malik took a bit of the powder, tossed it carefully into the fireplace, and watched it turn an emerald green before stepping cautiously in and yelling quickly 'Diagon Alley!' .. and came out in the wrong place. He simply knew that Isis would by no means allow him here, no matter the circumstances. He brushed soot off him, and before he knew it, "BUFF!!!" Ryou had landed in the same place right behind him. "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Ryou quoted after standing up and looking around. "Or England, for that matter." He said after a second glance. Noticing the horrid sights all around them, Bakura naturally got excited and took over. ~Oh, sure you can take over!~ Bakura smiled. ~~Ah, so this is the hikari way..~~ "Hi, Bakura, quit talking and let's move! Oh, if Isis sees this.." Malik started mumbling. Meanwhile, Bakura was going window shopping. He stopped at nearly every musty window, searching for that something he knew Ryou would never let him have. He finally saw it. It was a shop of thieving, and there were all sorts of different gadgets he could use at this 'Hogwarts' place. He grabbed Malik by the back of his shirt. "Look." He pointed at the display of different sorts of knives and daggers. He, being a obsessed tomb robber, literally dragged a cursing Malik inside. "See! Look! It's so small, I could use it and Ryou wouldn't even know I have it! Where's your money, I need money, you got money?" He asked excitedly. Malik rolled his eyes. "I don't know, you're the guy with the gold." He murmured. "Well, then, help me steal it!!" He whispered, as he stuffed it into his pocket and simply left with absolutely no complications. Malik just followed him, knowing he didn't have much of a choice. 'Isis is going to *KILL* me' Was what rebounded inside his head. "Okay, baka, we have to go before Yami comes running in here screaming something about his father's grave." He dragged Bakura along, looking for anything that could possibly be familiar. Or at least friendly. Being the klutz that he was, he ran straight into a man with long, greasy black hair. Bakura snapped right up. "What do you think you're playing at!!" He yelled right at Malik's face. "It was so kind of you to interrupt a rather important conversation! Do you know how hard it is to hide things from him! I had just gotten him back to sleep, too!" The black-haired man stared at the two, one of them screaming their head off in some sort of mad state. The blonde rolled his eyes. "Well, gee, tell the whole world!! Oh, god I am so dead!! I'm sorry sir, I'm just looking for Diagon alley. We used some sort of crazy powder and ended up in the wrong place!" The man nodded once, and motioned for them to follow. "What just happened?" Ryou had regained control, and was not aware of his surroundings. Malik pointed frantically at the man. Ryou nodded and went back into his state of unconsciousness. "Is he mentally unstable or something?" The man asked warily. Malik grimaced. "Only half the time." He answered before rushing off into the obvious madness of Diagon Alley.  
"Malik! Ryou! Thank god you didn't screw up too much!" Yugi ran up to the two boys frantically. "Uh. you see, there you're wrong." Yugi sweat dropped. "Tomb robber?" Malik nodded. "You take him, I'm tired." He tossed Ryou to Yugi, who amazingly caught him and set him down on a bench. "Uggh. Isis is going to kill me!" Malik whined. "Don't worry about it." Yugi comforted. "Ryou! Malik!! Thank goodness you didn't get too far off!" Mrs. Weasley came running up, followed by the rest of the Weasleys, Harry, and a bushy-haired girl they didn't know. "Oh dear. Ryou, are you alright?" She waved a hand in front of the boy's unblinking face. "He's okay. we just had a bit of a shock. We landed in a big gloomy place, real dark. Didn't seem like a school supplies place, so I had to carry him out of there. Apparently, he wasn't ready for something like floo powder. " Malik covered creatively. Harry laughed. "Same thing happened to me first time I tried it. Landed in Knockturn Alley. Creepy place." He told them. "That was the place." Malik replied. "Cool!" Fred and George said at the same time. Ryou, for some odd reason, took this opportunity to wake up. "What. Malik, what happened?" He asked. "I don't know, ask him!" He answered in Arabic. Ryou rolled his eyes. "How much did he get?" Malik shook his head. "I don't know, ask him!" He said more strongly. Ryou sighed. "Money?" He asked. Malik eyes went red. "I SAID I DON'T KNOW!!!!!!" He yelled, making Yugi laugh. "Know what?" The girl with the brown hair asked. "Oh great. she speaks Arabic!" Malik said exasperatedly. "Oh, um, Malik, Ryou, this is Hermione." Harry introduced. Ryou smiled and waved, but Malik just sat and sulked. "He's mad because he thinks his sister is about to kill him." Ryou explained. "And because you speak Arabic. He hates it when anybody has something above him. Don't be surprised if he decides to set some mad animal on you." Hermione's face went white. Ryou laughed. "Just kidding! He's a very lovable brat, when he's not sure he's going to be killed, and especially by Isis, I sure feel sorry for him." Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Isis? The Egyptian goddess of Magic?" She asked curiously. "No, actually, the new defense against the dark arts teacher." Ron interrupted. "I know, Professor Ishtar will certainly be a change." Said Yugi, who was also rather nervous about Hermione knowing Arabic. "Okay, we'll go ahead and split up. You six can go together, Fred, George, you can see if you can find Lee and go off, but not a step down Knockturn alley, and we can all meet up at Flourish and Blotts in two and a half hours." Mrs. Weasley cut in and ordered. Ryou looked around for a moment. "What about Ginny?" Ginny blinked. This was the first time someone worried about her. "Can she come with us?" Mrs. Weasley thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose." She said after a minute of consideration.  
"So, Yugi, what's that triangle pyramid thing around your neck?" The ever curious Hermione wondered. Yugi blushed and put a hand behind his head. "Well, actually, it's a puzzle." He was cut off. "I knew it! It's the Millennium Puzzle!" Yugi's eyes widened. How in the world did Hermione know that!?!? "Uh. yeah, how'd you know? Normally, you don't know that unless you're a collector." He hinted. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not. Are you? I've heard all sorts of legends about those. I went to Bulgaria over the summer, you know, and a little after my parents picked me up we went to Egypt. Anyway, I saw a picture of it in a set in a museum. Someone else there had one, I think it was called a tauk." For once, she was stopped short. "Oh, god! Now, I am absolutely positive I'm dead!!! Isis, if you can hear this, tell Rishid to close down the museum, that if 'Kura over here hears one more thing, he'll hop on the next plane back to Egypt and dig up the tomb again!!" He yelled out loud. " 'Kura over here is about ready to kill Ishtar over there!" Ryou hissed. Yugi sighed. "You two, cut it out!!! If you don't, I'll hop on the next plane back to Japan, and drag you two with me! Either that, or I'll shut you up myself!!" He shouted, at the end of his rope. The other four simply watched the three get into a huge screaming match. Finally, Ginny decided to pull the three apart. "OKAY NOW!!! IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP THOSE THREE OVER THERE WILL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT LEAVE AND TRY TO IGNORE THE MADNESS!!!" This got the three boys quiet. Ryou blinked a few times. "Is that.Mokuba?" Yugi and Malik turned to see the black haired boy, quickly followed by an obviously exhausted Seto. Malik shook his head. "Oh no." He said as Mokuba spotted them. "Yugi! Ryou! Malik! Malik, where's Isis? Or Rishid, I'm surprised they left you with these two to handle as well, gee what a job, what with." He was cut off by his older brother. "Mokuba, let's leave them to themselves, we have more things to get." Of course, being cut off by his brother was not uncommon, so by now he was practically immune to it. But Seto, on the other hand, would probably never be able to handle Mokuba's ultimate-super-puppy-eyes!!! (Learned from the puppy himself!!) (Who learned it from Yugi ^_^) Knowing this, all Mokuba had to do was give him those ultra-sweet eyes to do the job. "Oh, alright!!!" Seto answered frustrated. No one noticed, though, that Mokuba wasn't the only one giving him eyes. Hermione was already getting something out for him to autograph. "Seto Kaiba? *The* Seto Kaiba?" She murmured to Harry. Ryou, who was learning certain skills from Bakura quickly, overheard this. "Yeah, it's the guy I see everyday exchanging insults with Yugi. Big deal." He turned around and whispered to Hermione. "The two are like, arch- rivals. If you ever see Yu-Yu Hakusho, then you'd see the little Urameshi / Kuwabara thing going on. Kaiba's the anti-hero, while Yugi normally saves the day. or the world, in a few cases." He glared at Malik, who shrugged innocently and replied, "Who, me?" Ryou glared. "Yeah you!!" Of course, this started a whole new fight, and with the added fury of Seto and Mokuba, it came out into an all-out fistfight. "You know, and those three don't really seem the fighting type." Ron commented as he sat down on the nearest bench.  
  
(note: Yes, it was Ryou who started the fight, but Bakura who ended up ending it. I just like to put Ryou in different situations and see how people react. Thanks for being my guinea pigs! *hands out Ryou plushies* )  
  
Yeah!!! ____ words!! I rule!! Go me, go me!! Aritagou to everyone who waited so long for me to update. I'll try to update quickly, but I've got so many ideas, and I can't stuff them all in one chapter. You'll have to wait for the Flourish and Blotts disaster plan!! And for why in the world Seto and Mokuba are here. as if it isn't the most obvious thing in the world!! I have a habit of getting all depressed when I don't get any reviews, so if you want me to continue, PRESS THE PRETTY LITTLE PURPLE BUTTON!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, yeah, and enjoy!! 


	3. Suspicions

As to why these last two chapters were so late, I have made a simple haiku.  
  
These three things are certain.  
Death, taxes and writer's block.  
Guess which one occurred.  
  
Wands!! I don't need a wand! I've never had a wand, and my magic works just fine! Why do I need a little stick thing to do magic!!!" Malik whined on the way to Ollivander's. "Well," Seto started, "You could show him the rod, and see if that qualifies." Malik shook his head. "And risk the rest of them knowing? No way." He answered bitterly. "Well, get over it, cause me and Mokuba don't have much of a choice, and neither do you." Seto said in a final tone. Malik sulked. "Well, how nice of you to order me around!" Seto stuck his tongue out. "Hey, I let you keep that rod of yours. Never could get the thing to work, though." He replied. "Hi ya, how ya doin'?" A flash of tan and white that was hanging on the two's shoulders said. "Hi Ryou." Seto rolled his eyes. "Ryou? Who's Ryou? I'm not Ryou? Can I help you find this Ryou person?" Malik hit him on the head. "Okay, 'Kura, you look almost exactly the same, especially when you're hyper like that? Did you steal something from that ice cream place?" Bakura gave him a dirty look. "How would I steal ice cream?" He asked innocently. "Yeah, tell it to the ice cold bag on your side." Seto said, feeling the bag he was holding. "Heh he. I'm going to go bother Yugi, 'Kay?" He ran off. "Is he always like that?"  
  
"Hi ya, Yugi? What 'cha doing?" Bakura ran up to Yugi. "Um, taking the ice cream away from a hyper tomb raider." He replied as he took away Ryou's bag. "You guys take away all the fun!!" He stuck his tongue out at the boy as he searched for someone else to bug. He dashed back over to Malik. "Hi!! When was the last time I actually bugged you?" Malik pretended to think. "Huh. I think that would be last night, when you were talking to Ryou out loud about things that others didn't need to hear, that I'm most certainly sure." He turned to Seto. "And you?" Seto shook his head. "Um. gee, was it the time that you 'borrowed' a few hundred dollars, or the time you 'babysat' Mokuba?" He spat. Bakura blushed a bit. "Hey, you never said I couldn't!!" He came back before running off to Mokuba, who was hanging out with Ginny. "Yea, it's safe!" He said as he darted towards them. "Hey, Mokuba, hey Ginny! Mokuba, what can I use to suck up to your brother!!" Mokuba raised an eyebrow. "Poor tomb robber spend all of his hikari's money? I don't know, call Jou, it's gotten to where they spend more time together than we do. Although, I'm sure he'd find it worth a bit to see you run around in a dog suit." Bakura rolled his eyes. "What is it with this family and dogs!!" He vented in a frustrated matter. Ginny giggled. "Tell you what. oh no." He looked over at Ginny, who smiled and waved. "Yeah, I know Bakura. He's a bit weirder than the other tomb robbers I met in Egypt, but, I don't think any of them five-thousand just yet." She grinned. "Okay, you tell Ryou, let me see his reaction, and Seto will understand." Bakura frowned. "You realize I was begging you my hikari wouldn't know that I spent all his money." He said grudgingly, making Mokuba laugh harder. "Yeah, why else would I bother?"  
  
Eventually, after that big episode, Seto ended up giving Ryou enough money to finish up shopping. Of course, Bakura still had to embarrass himself by un-stealing everything he bought. In other words, he had to go back into stores, and slip the merchandise back on the shelves. In a few instances, that was impossible, like when a few chocolate frogs hopped away. But nevertheless, it was the only thing that wouldn't make Ryou look bad, and would make Bakura suffer as well. (A/N: I had to do this once as a dare. It was ridiculous when I watched them throw away anything already opened!!!) "Poor Ryou." Yugi shook his head in pity as he watched Bakura use some of his best (and worst) techniques on items he had already bought and/or stolen. When that ordeal was over, Harry approached the foreigners. "Don't you need wands?" Malik's eyes went wide. "No. Absolutely not." He waved his hands defensively. Ryou laughed a bit. "And Isis?" Seto threatened. "Isis can get her own, I'm not getting a wand!!!" He said stubbornly. Yugi quickly thought something up. "Well, if not, you can always ask about your original magic, see if that qualifies. I'm sure everyone will be interested in it's *origin!*" He stressed. Malik thought for a moment. "Baka!!" He snarled. "If anyone is, it's a stubborn mule like yourself!!" Seto retorted. "Or you can just hand it back over. Or I can bribe a certain something to get it for me. Or I report you to a certain someone who I know will not appreciate this outburst. Or you can march into that shop and by a wand." Malik pouted. "Guess I don't have a choice. Go ahead and call Isis." Seto's eyes flared, and Ryou let Bakura take his cue. "Ooh, pretty!" He said as he fingered over the millennium rod. "I've always wanted one!! Gee, and when Malik-chan has his guard down, it's so easy to get!!" Yugi laughed. "Go Ryou!" Bakura rolled his eyes as he skipped over to Seto and held out his hands to him. "More for light!!" He smiled as he held out his hands, making Seto laugh as he put a single knut out of pocket and dropped it into Bakura's palms. He made a sour face and stomped hard using the metal heel of Ryou's boot before pivoting swiftly and marching away. Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Did you see him do that?" She whispered. Harry shook his head. "No, it's like he had an invisibility cloak or something." Ron replied, slightly amused at the white-haired boys sudden attitude changes. "Maybe he's a follower of you-know-who!" Hermione wondered aloud. Harry shook his head again. "No way. If he were involved, I would know. Besides, since when did he recruit fourteen-year-olds?"  
  
~~Hikari, those people are suspicious. I think they're beginning to notice.~~ Bakura warned. ~Then excuse yourself and let me take over!!~ He urged. ~~Take the others, so they know what's going on!!~~ Bakura grabbed the other four and dragged them over to a small corner. "Ryou, what's up?" Malik asked concerned. It wasn't often that he reacted like that. "They are getting really suspicious!! We all have to tone it down. Especially you, Malik, with that big reaction of getting the stupid wand!! Who says you have to use it, half the school supplies I take to Domino high end up as locker decorations! Now either shut up about it, or get all angry and give Marik right-of way!!" Malik closed his eyes. "And you, Yugi. well, at least warn your Yami about the Potter boy, I'm not so sure about him. I think he has sight." Malik reopened his eyes. "Sight!?! I thought only those connected to the Millennium items had sight!" He exclaimed. Ryou shrugged. "Well, we'll just have to talk to Isis about it. And you two, I strongly suggest you don't brag, no matter how much these baka spirits beg from you. I don't know why you two are here, because not even Bakura senses any more magic from either of you, but you were obviously invited for a reason. And especially to you, Malik. You see any ghouls, alert Isis immediately. If they acknowledge you, look at them all funny and say, 'do I look like this master of yours?' and somehow let them know that we have to be a secret. If you have to, threaten them, I don't care, they know better than to mess with you!" He practically ordered. "Not often Ryou here acts like a drill sergeant. You sure you're in there?" Mokuba asked innocently, earning a glare. "Why is that always an assumption! Believe it or not, I'm able to get people to listen to me, and guess who did that?" He ended before jogging away, his eyes now a bit watery. "Touché." Seto commented.  
  
As Ryou, Seto, Yugi, Malik, and Mokuba walked into the eerie wand shop, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny stopped nearby for ice cream. Naturally, the conversation eventually turned to the new students. "Speaking of spikes, did you see their hair?" Ron nodded excitedly. "They said it's natural, but I really don't know. You can imagine how Fred and George reacted. That Ryou kid even got them back!! There hair was multicolored for a day or so." Hermione smiled. "It'll be work trying to deal with three jokers. But Ryou? He doesn't seem the type. Perhaps the one they call Mokuba, but not Ryou." Ginny put her head down. "What's the matter, Ginny?" She asked. "Nothing!" Ginny answered in a high squeaky voice. Noticing that she might give herself away more than she already had, she ran away into the wand shop. Now, I promise this is the only time I will use the old, hackneyed phrase 'Meanwhile, back at the ranch,' I honestly do. (For those of you who haven't read any of 'a series of unfortunate events' books, or doesn't go dictionary reading as a hobby, hackneyed means 'something that has been used so many times that by the time Jocelyn uses it it's a bit cliché.)  
  
So, meanwhile, back at the ranch.  
  
"Hello, pharaoh. I've been expecting you for a time now." Everyone jumped at the ghostly whisper. Yugi whirled around. "I'm not the pharaoh. I mean, how do you know?" He asked timidly. "Ah, no doubt of that. But you are indeed the reincarnation of him, and as I see, the bearer of his soul." He glanced at the millennium puzzle. "And I see you even brought some old friends with you. I see the high priest, for one, not to mention two souls my ancestors weren't particularly fond of." Bakura, being in alert mode, jumped out. "How dare you insult my hikari and I like that!!" Malik pushed him down. "Easy, boy. I hate to disappoint you, sir, but I don't think I have a Yami, not like they do." Malik answered frankly. "Indeed, yours is induced simply by anger, nor can you speak to him in the same way, but he is certainly there." Yugi eyes widened. "Wait a minute, how do you know of the millennium items? We never told anyone!!" Mr. Ollivander smiled. "It has been passed down in my family for centuries. Come on now, boy, you first." He shoveled Yugi closer to him. "Hold out your wand arm." He ordered simply. Yugi, supposing it was whichever hand he wrote with, held out his right hand. The silver-eyed man took out a tape measure and started looking around for a suitable wand. "Beachwood, 9½ inches, tail feather of a rather young phoenix." He pushed it into the boys hand. "Go on, give it a wave!" Yugi waved it around a bit, feeling very foolish. His cheeks went bright red when half the wands fell off the shelves. "Apparently not." He whipped it out of Yugi's hand and shoved another one in. "Rosewood, 13 inches exact, hair of a unicorn." Yugi once again waved, and Malik started laughing out loud as the dusty front window broke. "Well, right core, wrong wood. Powerful little one, aren't we. Here, let's try maple, 8 ¾, very sturdy." As Yugi grabbed this one rather impatiently, sparks of a teal color and gold flew everywhere, eventually shaping into an all-gold pyramid. "Not surprising." He said simply as Yugi stood in awe. Yami urged. Nevertheless, the man never blinked, and Ryou, having re- switched with Bakura, went up and held out his left hand. The tape measure immediately went to work, and as did Ollivander, searching for a wand. "Here, rosewood, 9 ¼ inches, dragon heartstring." Ryou took it and, as though out of instinct, took out his deck, and chanted something. "Bakura ." Yugi warned, but it was too late as the change of heart was summoned. "Yes, this one will do." He said as he waved the Change of Heart back. He showed the others the ring behind his back, as though to explain. "Perhaps, but never use your wand for shadow magic. Terrible things can happen. If others learn of it, the world could suffer." Malik snorted. "Apparently you haven't seen real magic then, if you think that's bad, just opening a portal. If the rest of the monsters in Bakura's deck over here were released, then you'd see something. That's probably the nicest in his entire deck, and even she's pretty creepy." Ollivander nodded. "No doubt the tomb robber helped with that." He smiled creepily as he withdrew a wand of his own and repaired the window. "Come on now, young one, you'll be needing one too." He motioned for Mokuba. "Birch, phoenix feather, 12 ¾ inches."  
"Well, I knew that wouldn't be bad at all!!" Malik boasted as he walked out of the shop to run right smack into Ginny. "Oh! Malik! I'm sorry!" She gasped between breaths. "Ginny, what's the matter!!" Ryou looked up to see closely followed behind her were Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Oh. Hello, you guys." He said brightly. Hermione briefly smiled at him before attending to Ginny. "Ginny, what went on back there?" Ryou made a noise like a sick parrot. "Um, I don't think you really need to worry about it. She'll be fine. I know what happened." ~~Told you they were suspicious.~~ Ryou inwardly frowned. ~Did I ever say they weren't?~ He answered as he closed the link. "What he means is, she got kind of freaked out when she knew something you didn't. I'm sure she's acted like that before, it's only natural." Yugi explained. Ron raised an eyebrow. "What did she know?" Ryou smiled. "That I'm actually a tomb robber that had been concealed inside a necklace for five thousand years, and that Malik is the reincarnation of an assassin, not to mention that Yugi here was the pharaoh that trapped me and himself in these mystical items." He made it sound sarcastic. Harry laughed, but he wasn't sure. Not even Fred or George could think up such an elaborate story so quickly. "I've always wanted to say that." Ryou added, noticing the nervousness in the boy's laugh. "Okay." Malik pretended to edge away from him. "It's a private joke." Yugi went along with it. But Harry still wasn't convinced. The faces of those three. he knew he had seen them before. Not like, yesterday or anything, but a long time ago, like a childhood friend. Although Dudley made sure that never happened, there was still a vague feeling. The thing was, it wasn't until Ryou had said that that he had felt like he had known them before. "Oh, Ra, look at the time! We were supposed to be at the bookstore almost half an hour ago!!" Malik exclaimed suddenly before taking off. He stopped quickly, though. "Um, I don't know the way."  
  
"Yugi! Over here!!" Malik called across the room to his friend. Yugi immediately came running. "Hey do you know where Seto and Mokuba took off?" Malik nodded. "Yeah, right after they both got a wand. He paid without anyone else noticing and literally dragged Mokuba out. Look at this, I've never seen anything like it." He pulled a book off the shelf and started flipping through the pages. "You don't think." Yugi's eyes went wide when a page with a picture of the seven millennium items appeared. "Yeah, it is." Malik answered, partly ecstatic at the find, but partly troubled that it wasn't still in the tomb. "How do you think it got here, I mean, with Shadi and Rishid protecting it and everything?" Yugi asked. "I don't know. I mean, I've never been down there without at least a glare from one of the two, even though I'm the official guardian now. And knowing that those two can be lethal when it comes to protecting the treasures, I hate to think what pains whoever went through to get it." Ryou waltzed over, carrying at least a dozen books on random subjects, but mainly divination. "To get what?" He asked, overhearing the last bit of the conversation. Malik held it up, and Ryou dropped his books. "The Book of Shadows!" Noticing the boys' surprise, a shopkeeper walked over. "Can you read that?" He asked curiously. All three of them nodded, not really realizing what the question was. "You can have it then. It came in one day, and no one is able to read or wants to buy it. Gives me the creeps sometimes anyway." He said simply as he walked away. They had just realized what had happened. "We had best show Isis as soon as possible." They said at once.  
  
That evening, the seven (including Hermione, who decided to spend the rest of summer with the others) were shooed out of the house to go on a hike. "Remember, stay on the east side of the house!" Mrs. Weasley urged as she pushed them out. "Okay! Okay!" Fred and George repeated. Ryou of course, ran right out to enjoy the fresh air with his new delivery raven, Nightshade. "I still can't believe you got a raven!!" Malik and Yugi were whispering to him all afternoon. Considering as nice and bright and quiet Ryou was, it was weird to think Ryou was actually kind of into the occult. A lot of that was Bakura's doing of course, but it was still pretty much a visual oxymoron to see Ryou with his slightly tanned skin and white hair next to his tarot deck and raven. "Come on, slowpokes! We can't stop here! There's a lot more ahead!" He said to the rest of the lagging group. "Oh, come on, five minutes!" Fred, George, and Ron begged. Ryou rolled his eyes. "You really need to get in better shape, if this is as far as you can get! I know bugs that go faster than you!!" Malik snorted. "Yeah, one comes to mind." He laughed, referring to his 'Man Eater Bug'. "He ate Jounouchi once, how could I forget!" Yugi chimed in. "Well, true. But it wasn't my fault the baka went ahead and attacked!!" Fred and George raised eyebrows simultaneously. "Long story." "We got plenty of time." Ginny went ahead and spoke up after a weird churn in her stomach. "I don't think we do!" She pointed to the woods ahead, in which a crowd of dementors were approaching. They all started running, but didn't get very far before falling to their own memories. Harry tried shooting something out of his wand, but it was pretty much useless against them all. "What are these?!?!" Yugi cried. "Dementors! They make you remember your worst memories!" Harry, the only one still managing to stand. At this, Yugi and Malik immediately turned to Ryou. "RYOU!! Ryou, it's okay, he can't hurt you! It's just a memory!!" Malik cried into his ear. "Get them away!! I don't think he can last his memories again!!" Yugi yelled tearfully. As though this was a cue, the creatures came closer and advanced on Ryou, who was screaming something incomprehensible, curled up in a small ball. Only Malik, who was close enough, understood him. "Iie!! Iie!! You've had your fun, now go away!! Please!! Please, no more!! No, Yami, please, no!!" "Ryou, really, it's okay!! Relax, he can't hurt you, it's just a memory!" He tried to calm him down. "Bakura?" Yugi tried to ask Malik calmly, fighting his own memories, particularly those of Malik trying to kill him. Malik nodded. "Hai! I can't get him to calm down!!" As though whatever god whichever person believed in was listening, a parade of ministry personnel on broomsticks flew overhead and sent down a lot of ghostly patronums, running off them all. Ryou had long since passed out. Yugi ran over to Ryou and Malik. "Is he okay? Did they." He was cut off. "No, he's just fainted. You're the only one I've ever known to do that before, Harry." Ron said, leaning over Ryou and shaking him. "Here." Ginny handed Malik a bottle. "Wave it under his nose!" Malik threw the cork off and spilled some of it on Ryou's shirt before managing to get it under the boy's nose. Ryou coughed and sputtered a bit before opening his eyes. "Needs a lot less rose and a lot more jasmine." Were his first waking words.  
  
"Ryou. are you feeling okay? I know what happened today must have shook you up a bit." Malik asked. Ryou shook his head. "No, of course not! I'm fine!" He said in what could only be described as false cheeriness. "I know what you were remembering. I heard you, Ryou! It's okay, you can tell me." Ryou's eyes narrowed. "There is no reason for you to try to comfort me! I'm perfectly fine, I just need some time to myself without someone bugging me about something, whether it be a tiny scratch or a harmless memory!" He exploded. Malik's features hardened. "Yami and I are both assuming that you're the tomb robber, because I know this isn't Ryou!!" He spat. Frustrated, Ryou took off the ring and threw it to the floor. "There!! You happy! Now he couldn't hurt me if he tried!! It's apparent that this is the hikari speaking because I can't even talk to him without the ring! Why can't you two just shut up! He's changed, and why you can't see that, I don't know!!" He marched wrathfully out the door, slamming it behind him.  
  
"Harry, do you know if that Ryou kids parents died like yours or something?" Ron asked curiously. "No. His mom, yes, but his dad's still alive." Harry answered thoughtfully. "I still don't know why he fainted either. Not many people have memories that bad! It was as though, there was another factor or something." He added. "I know," Hermione started. "And you heard the way he screamed. Like the Cruciatus Curse had been placed on him or something." She commented. "And what's more," Ron whispered. "Is the way Yugi and Malik reacted. You know, 'I don't think he can last his memories again!' thing. That was creepy. " Harry and Hermione both nodded. "I just wish I knew what he was remembering."  
  
Wow!! Lot's of words! Yea!! By the way, if you would please, help me!! I need to figure out someway for a duel monster to next-to-kill Draco Malfoy. without the help of Ryou, Bakura, Yugi, Yami, Malik, Seto, or Mokuba." 


	4. Finally to Hogwarts

Chappie 4!! It'll be hard though. I'm in an angsty mood! Guess that's what happens when you listen to Vanessa Carlton's 'Paradise' all day. first time I heard it I cried for an hour!!! I uploaded it and I'm listening to it now!! If you like slightly angsty songs, I strongly suggest you buy it. Oh, and bakurasgirl, just in case you happen to come across this sometime, I think 'Sway' would be a pretty good for 'The Rose and Ryou and November Rain' cause I know I'll forget to review!! To the people who are reviewing about my paragraphing, I'm really sorry. I've tried that format, but it drives me nuts. If I had one of those stupid automatic- paragraph thingies, then maybe I'd be in a better spot. but no!! Stupid windows doesn't have one! Baka!!!!! *kicks computer and causes blackout* Okay. moving on!!! And yes, I love making them all fight!! It makes it even more funny when the yamis take over, and we all love the yamis!! Oh yeah, I forgot the disclaimers! SO SUE ME!! Just remember who my lawyer is! *points to Malik, who is threateningly holding the Millennium Rod* I don't own anything. Not even this disclaimer. I ripped it off White Angel. v_v  
  
"Harry? Can I ask you something?" Ryou asked, sitting on the grass watching the gnomes frolic about. Harry turned around, slightly surprised at how he spoke up. "Hmm? Sure. I guess." He answered. "Do you believe in fate? You know, how history repeats itself?" Harry looked at him, slightly taken aback. Then he shook his head. "I believe you make your own future. But if you don't do anything about it, I guess everyone else will push you to the past." He replied, after a bit of consideration. Ryou smiled, not that smile that he seemed to always be wearing, but a real genuine smile, as he picked up a gnome and softly stroked it before putting it back down and watched it scurry away. "Now may I ask you something, Ryou?" Ryou looked up, his soft ebony eyes wide. "You may, but I don't know if I'll be able to answer you." He whispered solemnly. "What did you remember when those dementors came?" Ryou sighed. "I was afraid you would ask that. Normally, to say, Malik, I would tell him to buzz off, that he needs to let up. But. can you keep a secret. you can't tell anyone, not even my friends, and they already know a lot more than you will." Harry closed his eyes. "Not if there's no reason to." Ryou sighed again. "Then I can't tell you. There a million reasons you should tell them, but more not to." He stood up, his head bowed, and Harry could see a few tears fall on the ground. "Goodnight, Harry."  
  
The next morning, things weren't much better. Harry decided not to tell Harry and Hermione last night's occurrences, after considering Ryou's reaction. Ryou, Yugi, and Malik weren't on the best terms with one another. There was no way to be sure, but Ryou was positive Bakura would be furious with him for taking off the ring. Yugi was livid with Malik for talking to Ryou, even after he knew how he felt. Yami, on the other hand, was convinced that this was all Bakura's doing, that he had somehow brainwashed Ryou and made him react this way whenever that subject was brought up, and was personally proud of Malik. Harry was becoming increasingly suspicious of the three, but decided it was best to drop it, at least until he knew them better. Meanwhile, he was dreaming of quidditch night and day. His Firebolt tucked safely in his trunk, he visualized zooming about, Fred and George knocking away the bludgers, and sighting the snitch right next to Malfoy's ear. Now that Wood was gone, he was going to be quidditch captain at last. He kept this to himself though, it still being rather personal. He was interrupted though, by frequent blasts from Fred and George's room. Harry smiled to himself. Looked like they were making a batch of something new. Nothing else really could happen that day. After the dementor incident, Mrs. Weasley wouldn't let anyone out of her sight. Not even the gnomes. ~~~Later that night, though.~~~  
  
"Malik." Ryou whispered. Malik jerked away. "Ryou? What's the matter, it's the middle of the night!!" He rubbed his eyes. "Malik, I have to tell you something. You know a couple days ago, you and Yugi interrogated me on that bruise on my right shoulder, how I told you it was a cookbook." He took a deep breath. "I lied. It was Bakura. but he didn't mean to, it was a baseball we found in the guestroom at Harry's place. He threw it to me, and instead my hand, it hit my shoulder. I'm sorry I lied Malik, I really am." Malik closed his eyes. "It's okay, Ryou." He was disrupted by Bakura, who emerged from the ring Ryou had just put on earlier. "I'm sorry, aibou. I didn't mean to hit you." He kissed the light softly on the forehead before returning back to the ring. Ryou, who was whimpering softly, laid back down and eventually fell asleep. Malik, on the other hand, immediately woke up Yugi. "Yugi, did you just see that?" He shook the spiky-haired boy awake. "No, I apparently didn't, because you just awoke me from a rather pleasant dream." He answered grumpily. "It was Bakura. I don't know Yugi, I think Ryou may be right. Maybe he has changed." Yugi opened his eyes. "What happened?" He asked, suddenly awake and alert. Malik sat down on the edge of Yugi's bed. "And then, he came out of the ring, which Ryou put back on earlier without our knowing, and said something like 'I'm sorry, light, I didn't want to hurt you.' Not exactly like that, but you know. And then he kissed Ryou on the forehead, which is definitely a first for him, and went back to the ring." He ended. "Do you think it's really possible? Could he really have changed?"  
  
"Wake up, you three! We've got to get to the station in time, and we're already off schedule!!" A panicked Hermione opened the door to see two boys calmly talking, and the other one sitting on the bed reading. "Oh? Time already?" Ryou looked up from his book. Hermione's eye's widened as she looked around, seeing the beds already made, the boys already dressed, and trunks already packed. "Wow." She whispered. "Time change." The three replied at once. Hermione nodded and closed the door, and went straight to Fred and George's room. "Why can't you two be like the new ones! They're up and ready, and you two are still sound asleep!" She yelled into the door. Hearing this, the three laughed. "Looks like we're an influence!" Malik popped. Ryou smiled a bit. "That's a new one." He giggled. "Wow, and it's not even for a duel! Go us!" Yugi false cheered. "Second breakfast anyone?" Malik asked. Ryou stuck out his tongue. "Uh, no way. coffee. still. evil." He coughed a fake cough. "Yami says more food. I say no." Yugi answered simply. Ryou could just imagine Yami sulking in his soul room. "I'M HUUUUUUNNNNGGGGGRRRRYYY!!" He would be crying. "Ryou, are you okay? If you don't want to talk that's okay, but. last night." Malik hinted. Ryou glared at him. "Okay, okay, just wondering!" Malik held up his hands defensively. "I just want to say that. maybe you're right. Maybe he has changed." Ryou looked at him for a moment. "Really?" Yugi nodded slightly. "But that doesn't mean that we won't suspect him if something strange happens. Just believe us when we say, he has a second chance." Yugi told him. Ryou smiled again, another real, authentic smile, as he replied sincerely, "Thank you, guys."  
  
"How did you get up so early? I mean, you went to bed even later than us, you guys talking woke me up around midnight, and hear you are, up and awake, seven a.m.!!!" Ron exclaimed. "Oh, I'm sorry we woke you up last night. I had sort of a nightmare, and ended up waking everyone up." Ryou explained. Hermione shook. "Not surprising! I've been having nightmares ever since those dementors!" Ryou flinched. "Could you be so kind as to not mention those? I've been trying to forget." Hermione nodded, knowing that Harry didn't like them mentioned much either. "Yes, but I'm really surprised how many they were. Was there that much happiness surrounding us? It seemed like they were feeding on two or three extra people." Harry said. Ryou, Malik, and Yugi looked at each other nervously. "Well, the ministry was obviously nearby." Said Fred. George nodded. "True." Hermione agreed.  
  
"You mean we have to walk through that thing!! No way!!" Malik yelped. "I don't think my dad will let me go to a new school if I get a concussion from this one." Ryou said softly. Yugi just shrugged. "Whatever. Just think of it as turning the safety settings to zero on a duel disk. The worst thing that could happen is that you get knocked out." Malik put his hands behind his head. "Yeah, does that count god cards?" He pointed out. Yugi sweat dropped. "You guys go first to prove to him that he ain't about to die." Yugi told Harry, his eyes focused on the cocky blonde. "Forget that, just make him!" Fred and George pushed him and his trolley into the wall. Ryou and Yugi watched him disappear into the wall, hearing much protesting. "See? That simple!" The twins came back out, dusting off their hands. Ryou just rolled his eyes and passed them into the barrier. "Malik, calm down! It's not like you're lost in an infinite void or something! Trust me, I know, I've been there." He said, immediately spying the boy freaking out. He hit him in the back of the head extremely hard, making him shut up. "Ah, that's much better. Now, be a good little baka and wait for Yugi, because I know the moment I get you to shut up, he's going to start up. And that gives me a very bad headache! I swear, it's like living with Aria and Aten!" Malik raised an eyebrow. "What!! I read, big deal!!" (Uh. sorry, couldn't resist! )^_^) ) Malik just let it pass, and jumped onto the train. Ryou yelled after him to no avail. Soon, everyone else had come through, and had jumped on the train.  
  
"Hey, these are our last electricity-using moments." Malik started. Yugi's eyes widened with excitement. "Yeah. you're right." Ryou jumped in. "Malik's referee!" He called. Malik scoffed. "Why me? Why not Yugi? That way, there will be some more excitement. We both know what will happen should we duel him." He pointed out. No one but Malik noticed as the millennium ring glowed faintly under his shirt, and Bakura took over. "Duel? You can't duel, it's not allowed at Hogwarts!" Hermione explained. Yugi dropped his duel disk box he was holding. "No. duel? No. Bakura-butt- kicking? No dueling?!!!" He started to freak. "Why not!!" Malik shouted. "Because it's dangerous!!" Ron acted like this solved it all. "How can cards be dangerous!!!" Bakura exclaimed. ~~Well, when they're cards, anyway.~~ He reminded himself. The three looked at the boys. "Cards?" They asked. "Yeah!!" Yugi said, as the puzzle now glowed softly, as Yugi and Yami switched. "Duel monsters! See!!" He took Malik's deck out of his hand and gave it to Harry. "Hey!" He reached for Yami. "Did you really think I would let them touch my deck!" He asked. "Yeah," Bakura teased, "didn't want them to get a fingerprint on Osiris or Ra, now, would you?" Yami put his deck up next up to his face and cuddled it. Bakura sweat dropped. "Pathetic. Shows a real GAME KING!" He stressed. Yami quickly put his deck in his duel disk, which had somehow magically appeared on his arm. "Wanna bet!!" Bakura waved his hands. "I want to duel Malik! I don't want to duel Mr. Macho!!" Yami shrugged. "What's the difference?" He asked. He was completely ignored though, because at that moment, someone walked into the compartment. "Malfoy!" Harry stood up. Malik stood up. "Malfoy?" The boy looked at the blonde for a moment. "M- master Marik!" Malik's eyes widened with fury. "Leave now!!" He ordered. "I don't plan on messing with the likes of the Ghouls again!" He took the dagger out of his rod discreetly and flashed it in the light. "I'm sorry!" The boy squeaked as he pushed his confused cronies out of the compartment. "Wow!" Ron yelled. "How'd you get Malfoy out like that!?!!" Malik blushed. "Bakura, your turn." He said simply. Bakura took his cue. "Erase their minds!" The ring flared out, and a mysterious light filled the compartment. and then, nothing.  
  
(Okay, I'll try. again.)  
  
"Baka! They're knocked out!" Yami scolded.  
  
"I much prefer Yugi, pharaoh. Goodbye." He said simply before he was replaced by Ryou. Yami sighed and allowed Yugi to take over.  
  
"That was a total waste of time!" Malik said in false cheeriness. "How much you wanna bet they wake up remembering everything, including the dagger! Oh, and what about Isis? I wonder what she'll think of this!" He panicked. "She's going to kill me. Not to mention that she'll take this stupid rod away. Man, it would be fun to use this on enemies, too. Make them make a fool of themselves in class, or have them eat the same steak as Bakura."  
  
"Shh! I think he's waking up!" Ryou pointed to Harry. Sure enough, Harry started stirring around, and opened his eyes. "Good morning Harry!" Ryou greeted.  
  
"What in the world happened?" He asked. Ryou shrugged.  
  
"I dunno. I just woke up as well. I just hope everyone's okay. Think it had something to do with a bleached-blond kid with a wacky hairdo." Harry immediately looked to Malik. "No! No!" Ryou laughed. "Think his name Malfun or something."  
  
"Malfoy." Malik said solemnly. "His name was Malfoy. Little son of a-" He was cut off by Yugi.  
  
"Malik, five minutes ago all you could rant about was Isis. Why don't you think about her before speaking for once!" He warned. "What you really need to worry about is what in the world you are going to do. Until we get to school, we have to figure out exactly what happened, and then correct it!!" He stressed the 'it', trying to get the point across.  
  
"Stealing one from Ryou's book, buzz off!" He flicked Yugi.  
  
"Still here." Said Harry, getting slightly annoyed at being left out. (Life never is fair, huh, Harry-kun!) "And if it was Malfoy, watch out. You make an enemy of him, you make a evil mosquito." Yugi blinked. "You know, he buzzes around and annoys you all day, and when you try to slap him, he just flies away and blames another one."  
  
"Oh." Ryou said. "I think I'm going to go find Seto. Maybe we'll be lucky for once and Mokuba found someone else to hang out with. Dude. that would be more than slightly freaky." He walked out of the compartment, followed by laughter.  
  
"Anyway, I guess we'd better work on waking these guys up. I don't think we'll look good carrying in two unconscious people on our backs. Dunno how many times I've been blamed for carrying Ryou. I swear, for the karma- believing sort, he sure does have bad luck." Malik said. "Do you have anything? If not, I've got a bloodstained dagger." He teased. "Put that under their noses, they're bound to wake up. Same knife that killed the pharaoh five thousand years ago. Weren't many doctors that could do heart surgery then." He laughed, earning a glare from Yugi.  
  
"And what did that pharaoh do to deserve that?" The boy shoved himself into Malik's face.  
  
"He imitated you, that's what!" He pushed Yugi away. "And I think Isis said he was already pretty much dead. After all, it was only a body, there was no soul left!"  
  
"So! What about his wife? Or perhaps the fact that when the high priest's little brother walked in to make sure he was still alive, he was next found screaming down the hall screaming something about Anubis or Osiris or something!" Yugi pointed out.  
  
"First of all, he didn't have a wife, he had a husband!! And second, you don't have to drag in that little kid again! Besides, that kid was a nuisance, words of the pharaoh himself!!!" Malik argued. Harry rolled his eyes.  
  
"Could you please shut up about something that happened more than a millennia ago and help me wake these two up!" Harry shouted.  
  
"Oh yeah." The two said at the same time. Malik dove into Ryou's trunk to find something to wake them up.  
  
"Careful, you may find more than a few robes in there." Yugi warned. Malik soon discovered that for himself as he pulled out a greenish colored skull.  
  
"Lovely." Malik said with pure disgust as he wrapped it up carefully in a white sheet he found. "Aha! They're either licorice or." He sniffed the black candle he had just found. "Um. Rose?" He raised his eyebrows. Yugi took it and nodded his head.  
  
"Yeah. Black rose. That's nice. Here." He tossed it to Harry, who caught it expertly. "Good catch." He commented as he pulled Malik out of the seemingly bottomless trunk. Harry sniffed it and pretended to fall over.  
  
"Yes, this should work." He coughed. He started waving under Hermione's nose, when Ryou, followed by the brunette they met yesterday, appeared.  
  
"No!! What are you doing with that!" He leaped to get it from Harry. "Malik!! I hope you realize how much these cost!" He accused.  
  
"Wouldn't matter. I don't have any money. Besides, how much did you *pay* for them, anyway?" Ryou sweat dropped.  
  
"That doesn't matter!! What matters is that you went trunk-digging, and you know that job is specially reserved for me!! Why don't you go pick on Yugi's trunk! I bet you wouldn't be half as disgusted with his stuff! Probably cards and Egypt posters is all." He pointed out. Yugi looked hurt.  
  
"I have more than that! Better than a bunch of fully prepared voodoo dolls!" Yugi yelled. At this point Seto stepped in.  
  
"People, I live with an eleven-year-old brother, not to mention suffered a couple of fangirl attacks within the last six hours. I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I'm not about to put up with your crap. Ok?" He stated calmly. Malik nodded.  
  
"Ah, yes. I see. And I suppose you have better entertainment?" He asked. Seto looked around.  
  
"I brought my duel disk." Harry shook his head in defeat.  
  
"Let me guess, you brought a couple of suitcases full of these cards you keep talking about, and you want to kill each other. again." He said. Yugi nodded.  
  
"I'd say that hit the nail on the head." Ryou added. "I'll duel you, Kaiba! Better than a sure loss, as much as a *part* of me hates to admit that." He insinuated. "But, as long as you don't draw those blue eyes." His eyes slanted as he once again allowed Bakura control.  
  
"I don't need a couple of dragons to beat you, Bakura! I could beat you with your puny deck in two minutes tops!" Seto threatened. Bakura laughed.  
  
"Sure, but I don't think Harry will appreciate a duel right now. I suggest you getting something out to wake those two up with." He smirked. "Certainly the famed Seto Kaiba has something to wake them up with. No super-strong cologne in those bags?" Seto rolled his eyes.  
  
"Why don't you!? You're the one with the candles!"  
  
"Are you willing to pay for those? You wake them up!"  
  
"We've been awake for the last ten minutes, we just were seeing how much you guys could argue!!!" Ron finally spoke up, followed by Hermione.  
  
"But, considering you guys couldn't agree, we got sick of it and just got up. It was amazingly funny though, watching you guys argue. Now, do you mind filling us in on what in the world just happened?" Hermione queried. Bakura pretended to look thoroughly puzzled.  
  
"I don't know. We were trying to figure out ourselves exactly what happened." He wasn't lying. Bakura had that ability to not lie, but not let people know the truth at the same time. Neither Ryou nor him had ever remembered a Malfoy before, and by the looks of it, neither had Yugi or Yami. Malik seemed the only one to know, and he wasn't exactly in the right place to tell. If he was a Ghoul, then why in the world was he in England? And why did Ron seem to know him? It was all a mystery to Bakura, but I guess it wouldn't be for long. As a tomb robber, he was one of the best at getting needed information. Not to mention Ryou's sudden bursts of emotion would leave Malik desperate to talk to him, so apparently this would be easier than he thought.  
  
"Gods, I feel like I'm back with the Ghouls again. Why does everything have to be black!" Malik cried. He was upset by the fact that they had to wear uniforms. Ryou laughed.  
  
"At least they don't have little lavender eyes on the hoods. Then you'd definitely look like a Ghoul. Yugi would too! I can just imagine. evil Yugi. taking everyone's rarest cards, and having three sets of Exodia like that one Rare Hunter that beat Jou had." He joked. Yugi laughed.  
  
"Grandpa sure wouldn't like that. Probably croak the moment he saw the shape of the hood. And then I'd make Bakura use monster reborn and bring him back, and he would croak again on the fact that I had a new Exodia set. That would be funny. Heh he. he doesn't even know about the Ghouls, but the color black would scare him. I can just imagine." Yugi said. Ryou smiled.  
  
"At least he's not here. Hey, Malik, do you have a comb? My hair isn't used to switching so much." Ryou whispered. Malik cracked a smile and went into Ryou's trunk and got the comb towards the top. Ryou stuck his tongue out. "Yours is better!" He pouted.  
  
"Well, that's why you need to move to Cairo with me and Isis!" He teased. "But then little Yugi will be lonely. you can forget that idea. But still, you guys need to come more often." Ryou frowned.  
  
"That would mean following my dad. I don't like my dad. That simple." He told them. "Besides, I'm perfectly happy in Japan. It's not very formal, unless you count school. Anyway, I don't like Egypt either. It's way too hot, I wouldn't be able to stand it!!" He shivered, which wasn't very appropriate for the previous sentence, but it got the point across.  
  
"The train's stopped, you guys. I don't know if you need to go with the first-years to be sorted or what, but we'll be watching the ceremony to see where you get! See you!" Hermione waved.  
  
"First years over here! First years over here!" A rough voice called. Malik shrugged.  
  
"Guess we go with him." He said. Ryou and Yugi just followed the voice to see. a giant. Seto cowered behind Ryou, who was just laughing.  
  
"Um. Stop it, baka! Do you know where we go, sir?" He asked, giggling. The man smiled.  
  
"Ah, you must be the new students. You come with me, go on." He told them in a friendly voice. The boys nodded and followed the rest of the younger students.  
  
"I feel like I'm ten again." Malik commented. Ryou giggled a bit.  
  
"Are you sure you aren't? You act like it." He teased.  
  
"Shut up! You're one to talk! You okay back there, Seto. Kinda quiet for a know-it-all, aren't you?" Seto glared at him.  
  
"Oh, puh-lease! How was I supposed to know giants existed!!"  
  
"I seem to remember, according to you, neither did Yami or Bakura." Ryou pointed out.  
  
NEXT CHAPPIE!!: SORTING!!!! ! Oh, and I'm saving all my reviews, but some of them from Chapter one got deleted by my brother!! *evil glare* So if I forget to personally thank you sometime, blame it on him! Ja ne! OVER 4000 WORDS!!!! OH YEAH!!! 


	5. Discovery!

Whoa. freaky. I just finished the fifth book!! Yea Joci! Now that I'm completely screwed up by that, do not be surprised if their numerous character deaths or perhaps stuff that might have occurred in the book. I'm already plotting the death of Sirius. *laughs evilly* But anyway, I'll try not to spoil anything for people who haven't read it!!  
  
"I still can't believe you! You always have to do something stupid like that, don't you! You're such a show-off! What'll Isis think of this, now, huh?" Ryou griped at Malik. On the boats coming over, he just 'happened' to fall out, causing a big commotion. "I mean, you have to go and take the spotlight! And furthermore, you know perfectly well how to swim, there was no need to flap around like some sort of sick pigeon!" He scolded disgustedly.  
  
"You've got to admit, it was funny." Malik tried to get out of trouble. "How often do you bet people fall into a lake like that? And with all those people screaming, it was hilarious!" Ryou just rolled his eyes.  
  
"Like that's going to get you out of trouble! I swear, you're a bother! How in the world do Isis and Rishid put up with you! You're a brat!" Malik smiled and nodded.  
  
"They completely ignore me?" He said hopefully. Ryou kicked him. Currently, they were in a rather crowded room filled with younger kids. Yugi was looking around curiously, and Seto and Mokuba were going over something rapidly in Japanese. And of course, Ryou was getting all flustered with Malik, who was desperately defending himself. Around this point, a woman with her hair tied up in a bun so tight it seemed to make her face stretch.  
  
"First years, this way!" She shouted, and then turned her attention to the older boys. "You four, however, will come with Professor Ishtar." Isis stepped out from behind the woman.  
  
"I've been expecting everyone but you." She pointed to Seto, and turned to the other woman. "How come I don't know about him?" The other woman simply smiled.  
  
"Remind me to tell you later, I have to go attend to the ceremony." The woman turned and left.  
  
"Isis? Aren't we supposed to be sorted or something?" Malik raised an eyebrow. Isis smiled.  
  
"Yes, but not with the first years. You'll be sorted privately, and then we'll take you to your respective houses. " She answered. "Now, come on, we have to sneak past the great hall. I still can't believe they insisted on black uniforms, though, you look like you're all with the ghouls now. Speaking of Ghouls, I don't want you erasing minds that way anymore. It's best if you learn quickly how to do it the magical way, it's not quite as risky."  
  
"You got that that quick!!" Ryou burst. Isis nodded.  
  
"The power is to see the past or future. For a change, I got the future a few days ago. I really don't know why they're going to bother sorting you now, though, I already know what houses you're going to be in." She said cockily. "And as for the lake. Ryou's right, you are dead! Although, not by my doing. I'll enlist the help of a few friends."  
  
"Um, Isis?" Isis turned to look at Ryou. "Do we have to call you Professor Ishtar? Sounds kind of stupid, if you ask me." He said timidly. Isis laughed.  
  
"Are you kidding? No, of course not! You've known me as Isis since towards the end of battle city. I'd much prefer it that way. I've never been called by my last name before, though. It'll be great fun to actually be respected. Oh, I can't wait to get back at those former ghouls!" She laughed softly. "Now, we're in the Great Hall." She said, just loud enough to be heard by the four over the clapping and cheering. "Look up." She pointed to the sky. "It seems like it just opens up to the heavens!" All four of the boys, Ryou especially, stood in awe at the magnificent ceiling above them.  
  
"It's beautiful." Yugi said. The rest of the didn't say anything, not even Malik with a sadistic remark.  
  
"Come on, we have to get to my Office to eat, and I know you must be hungry!"  
  
"I've never seen so much food in my life!" Malik whooped excitedly. Seto rolled his eyes.  
  
"He's worse than Jounouchi." He muttered as he himself sat down and gazed at all the different foods. Ryou didn't really react, he just sat. "You're quiet Ryou." Seto commented as he helped himself to some turkey.  
  
"Just thinking." He quickly changed the subject- and the language. "Isis, are you sure that over there is a dog? He isn't acting like one I've ever seen. Dogs are afraid of Bakura, and he and I just switched a minute ago." He asked in Arabic, pointing to a large black dog. Isis smiled.  
  
"No, you're right. It's okay, Sirius, one of them already figured it out, and most of them anyway know what he's talking about." She said to the dog, who, right in front of their eyes, morphed into a human. "This is Sirius. He's going to be my unnoticed assistant this year." She introduced.  
  
"Well, aren't you smart! How'd you figure that out so quick?" The man inquired in a jolly voice. Ryou laughed nervously.  
  
"He figured out your secret, but that doesn't mean he's going to tell you his. right now anyway." Yugi covered. Malik shook his head.  
  
"So what, dogs are afraid of him? Who isn't?" Isis kicked him under the table.  
  
"You may think your covering, but in reality, you are making certain secrets all the more obvious!" She yelled in Arabic as not to make the man suspect. "Anyway, you all know Harry, I know. Sirius is just his average falsely-incriminated godfather." She told them.  
  
"How average." Yugi said sarcastically. His remark was just ignored though.  
  
"Sirius, this is Ryou, Harry's cousin, mother's side. ugh, I've met Petunia before, not the sweetest nosy person in the world. The one with the hair is Yugi, and this one is my wittle Malik-chan!!" She hugged him, knowing it would embarrass him. "Oh, and this is the so-called genius Seto. But I swear, for a genius, he's pretty thick." She finished her introductions and started on the decisions on what to eat. "You're welcome to help us finish this up. Even with this Vacuum Cleaner here, I don't think we'll eat it all." Malik gave her a face. "What, as the older sister, I officially have the embarrassing rights!" Ryou laughed softly. Something was bothering him, though. First, how come no one had noticed when he had switched with Bakura. Most of the time, when he switched with them he could hear his Yami cursing to the others for jumping on his back one way or another, but this time, no one bothered watching him for a change of character. Sure, they had only switched for a few seconds, long enough for Bakura to look around, but still, that was usually long enough for someone to notice! Second, what was the man accused of. Even if he was falsely accused, it could be very important to stay away from him. But, then again, if he always went by first impressions, then he would probably have nobody to talk to, because most first impressions were bad. Malik, for instance, was introduced as the bad guy, out to take over the world, and now the two were some of the best of friends. Ryou decided to put aside for now, and talk about it later. Around right then, the woman they had seen earlier came into the office. She took one glance around and a horrible greenish look came onto her face.  
  
"Sirius! What are you doing!" She started. Isis waved it off.  
  
"Nah, Ryou figured out he wasn't really a dog the moment he walked in. I promise, you've got a big mix coming into your classes. There's the smart one, the strategist, the technical guy, and Malik." Malik glared at her again.  
  
"Yeah, well you're certainly one to talk, you've only studied ancient magic, and here you are teaching all sorts of modern stuff you've long since deemed useless!" Yugi, Seto, and Ryou just rolled there eyes.  
  
"Sit down, this may take a while." Seto offered.  
  
"Oh don't worry about it!" Isis laughed. "We'll finish this later." She threatened to Malik, who just put his hands in his pockets and whistled. "Don't you dare! I swear, I'll send you home to Rishid faster than you pull a knife from there!" The woman raised her eyebrows. "He guards tombs. He keeps a knife with him, it's a security thing." She explained. The professor nodded, although it was clear she didn't understand. "You guys, This is Professor McGonagall, she will be your transfiguration instructor. I believe you already know these four."  
  
"Hello. I suppose you four are ready for the sorting?" Ryou looked confused.  
  
"What do we do?" He laughed. "I know that sounds silly, but then again, I feel foolish just asking it." Isis smiled at him.  
  
"All you have to do is put on a hat! It'll go inside your head, look through your deepest darkest thoughts, and decide where you should go." Ryou gulped.  
  
"Inside your head. is in Shadi-kind of go inside your head?" Yugi and Malik looked nervous too.  
  
"Well. sort of. It can't redecorate or anything, but I guess it could go into whatever chambers it pleased. Guess you'll just have to put it on and see!" She said excitedly.  
  
"Oh come on!! You're the one with the tahk, why can't you tell us!!" Malik exploded. "Wait a minute." He switched to Arabic. "If it can go through your mind, that means it has it's own mind, right?" Isis gave him a look.  
  
"No way. Absolutely not!" Yugi gave the puppy eyes, followed in pursuit by Ryou. "Oh, alright, give it a try!" Malik gave his sister a big smile.  
  
"Domo!!" Said the other two, giving her a hug and standing obediently in line. Isis shook her head in defeat. Malik was the first one to sit down and put the hat Professor McGonagall gave him on his head. The hat seemed to be thinking for a second and started to speak before Malik put his hands in his pockets.  
  
"Sly-ffindor! I mean, Gryffindor, terribly sorry!' It announced. Malik took the hat off and skipped back to the table, hands still in his pockets, and winked at the others. "Gryffindor!! Gryffindor!! Gryffindor!!" It repeated three times. Both Professor McGonagall and Sirius looked somewhat surprised.  
  
"Wow," Sirius finally spoke up. "I've never seen four people so different have such a stroke of sameness." Malik sort of blushed a bit.  
  
"Oh! Professor McGonagall, we need to speak to the headmaster, as soon as possible. It's very important!" Ryou suddenly remembered.  
  
"No, you don't." Isis told the boys sternly. "Not yet."  
  
"Why not! It was you who said we should tell him in the first place!" Malik cried.  
  
"Because I said so. Not now. Besides, it's not like you really needed to anyway. Only if something goes wrong." She said in a final tone. "Professor McGonagall, if you would take them back and get Harry and the others. I think it'd would be good if Sirius got a chance to talk to him."  
  
.  
"So, have you caught up with Lupin yet? I haven't seen him in a while, it would be nice to talk to him." Hermione asked politely. Sirius nodded.  
  
"Yes, but I can't tell you where he is. It's a secret." He winked. At that time, Isis took the opportunity to waltz back in, studying what appeared to be an extremely old book.  
  
"Oh, hello. Remember, you three, classes start tomorrow and I'd hate it if you were to sleep in. That would make at least four that would be late." She winked as she strutted back into her office.  
  
"You know who she reminds me of? Ryou, for some reason." Hermione said. Both Harry and Ron smiled.  
  
"You do know that she's Malik's sister, right?" Ron told her. Hermione looked surprised.  
  
"But they don't look a thing alike! I mean, if you put them side by side, they're complete opposites of one another! Malik's blond, but she has black hair. Not to mention his eyes are a light shade of lavender, while hers are a bright green!" She said. Harry smiled wider.  
  
"They definitely are siblings!" Sirius laughed. "You should see the two go at it! Yup, it'll be next to impossible for him to learn anything in this class, not with her as a teacher. They're terrible. And to think, they live together alone! I feel terribly sorry for this Rishid bloke, having to put up with them constantly!" Harry laughed nervously. Was that really the same Isis that Malik was afraid of being killed by? Certainly didn't seem like anything to worry about that much. But Harry didn't have much time to ponder on this, because from inside her office came a scream. Ron, Harry, Hermione and Sirius all burst in the door at once to see, before a loud crack, someone who looked like Malik leaning over her, holding some sort of rod that looked as though it was a sort of golden ax. It was only for a second, though, because at about then it turned into a something no one could really recognize, probably out of confusion.  
  
"Well, that explains it." Harry breathed a sign of relief as Ron quickly yelled 'riddikulus', making the creature disappear in a puff of smoke.  
  
"Didn't realize there was a boggart in there." Sirius said apologetically. Isis smiled.  
  
"It's okay, I didn't realize that either. Wouldn't have opened it then. Although I am surprised it couldn't change into what I at least thought was my greatest fear. Of course, then again, maybe it didn't know what if was!" She more reassured herself than she was talking to anyone else.  
  
"Malik, this is awesome!" Ryou whooped as he jumped onto his bed. "Look, Yami can sleep on the extra bed over there!" Yugi laughed.  
"Yeah, but what if Mokuba decides to come in here with us? That wouldn't really be surprising though." He added thoughtfully.  
  
"So, he can sleep on the floor!" Bakura had split from Ryou. "I rather like being able to stretch my legs again!" Malik failed at an attempt not to laugh.  
  
"And I guess taking over Ryou doesn't count, then?" Yami, who had also split, spat at Bakura. Bakura just nodded.  
  
"It's not my own body, is it? Ask Malik, when he takes someone over it's not like having an extra body to run around in, it's just control." He explained as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "But, of course, not taking your opportunities, I can vaguely understand how you don't know that." He added as he flopped down on the extra bed.  
  
"No way. That is mine, so get off right now!!" Mokuba had just walked in. Bakura stuck his tongue out.  
  
"Get your own bed, I happen to like this one! And Malik will agree with me!" He pointed to the blond, who just shook his head.  
  
"Sorry buddy. You're on your own." He said resolutely. Bakura looked slightly hurt.  
  
"Well then I'll just have to learn how to do it myself!" He said as he snatched the rod right out of Malik's pocket. Mokuba pretended to go monotone.  
  
"You may have the bed. I'll be happy for you to die in it!" He shot playfully. Bakura went and sat on his hikari's bed.  
  
"You'd think me being rather armed and dangerous, he would pay more attention to me." Said Bakura, shaking his head. Seto cleared his throat.  
  
"FYI: That's one of the reasons I'm here." All the hikaris laughed.  
  
"Ah, yes. The sweet subtleness of Kaiba. You know, this kind of reminds me of your place, Seto. Big, fancy, old.although I must say it houses more than two people." Ryou said, looking out the window. Mokuba shook his head.  
  
"No, sometimes three. Jou comes over if his dad kicks him out or he decides to run away again or something." Mokuba replied unnecessarily. "He's got his own room decorated and everything."  
  
"Yeah." Yugi said. "I wish he could have come along. He'd certainly complete things around here, even though it would be rather freaky."  
  
"You guys! Get up, we're already late!!" Ryou jerked awake, took one look at his watch and yelled aloud to no avail. The best response he had gotten was Yugi rolling over. He resorted to getting his ring out and sending shadow energy bouncing. "There you go. That worked well." He said happily. The others decided not to respond, but just glared. Ryou just smiled sheepishly as he slipped into his robes and dashed down to the common room, desperate to find someone to lead him to the Great Hall for breakfast. "Harry!" He called. "Harry, wait!" Harry, who had just swung open the portrait, turned to see his cousin dashing frantically to catch up with him.  
  
"Hmm?" Was his only response as Ryou stopped to catch his breath.  
  
"Sorry. Seto and Mokuba should be coming down right about now, and the others probably went back to sleep, but I really don't want to be lost in this place!" Harry laughed softly, remembering his first few days at Hogwarts. "Wait, see, here they are!" Sure enough, the Kaiba brothers had just run down, but they both gave Ryou a look before greeting Harry.  
  
"Er- shall we go then?" Harry asked. Ryou nodded and was the first to climb out of the portrait hole.  
  
"You know, I didn't really notice last night, but these portraits move around." Mokuba commented as they walked down the hall .  
  
"Oh yes," said Harry. "They'll go to other frames and talk to you. You should meet Sir Cadegon, he's a loony." Ryou laughed.  
  
"Oh, I know what you mean," He said. "I've known a few of those." He went on, causing a bit more laughter from the other two. All laughter ceased as they turned into the great hall. Ryou's eyes went wide. "Food!" He went and ravenously sat down at an empty seat at the Gryffindor table. Seto rolled his eyes.  
  
"Don't be surprised. He can be a maniac himself, sometimes. Not like a few other people I know, but he's definitely crazy." He winked before he went and sat down beside the white-haired boy. Mokuba quickly followed his older brother to the table, who, at the moment, seemed to be taking a few thing off Ryou's plate and onto his own. Harry could have sworn he heard something like "You don't eat eggs anymore, Ryou!!", before Ron and Hermione pulled him over to their side of the table.  
  
"Harry, you remember last night, when you saw the new professor's boggart? Well, I figured out what it was he was holding! Last night, I sent an owl to Bill, he's back home with a desk job now, I just found out, but anyway, I described it to him, and he told me what it was!" She held out a piece of paper that looked like it was torn from a book. Sure enough, the picture on it looked exactly like it.  
  
"The Sennen Rod? Never heard of it." Ron shrugged it off. Harry, on the other hand, was looking at it intently.  
  
"It says here that it conceals a dagger inside it. I guess that makes sense as to why she was screaming, but what about this down here? Only 'destined' persons can use the powers within? What in the world is that supposed to mean!!" Harry threw it down frustrated. "That doesn't help hardly at all! Why would Malik bother with it then!" Hermione just sighed.  
  
"Don't you see? I think it means there is more to these new people than meets the eye! Malik probably is the one 'destined' to use the powers within, whatever they are. A defense against the dark arts teacher surely wouldn't scream at the sight of a simple knife, you saw her office! It had swords decorating the place!" Hermione said excitedly.  
  
"So you're saying that this Malik guy has some sort of weird ancient magic? There you go Hermione, now you sound like Trelawny!" Hermione rolled her eyes, but decided against retaliating.  
  
"All I'm saying is to be careful around those four. I don't know what they're up to, but their has to be a reason they're here and why they skipped four years!" Ron pretended to ignore her, and went down to his schedule.  
  
"Defense against the dark arts. that sounds good, doesn't it. Uggh, double potions after that. transfiguration, and divination. Well, we've got one class that could be okay. As long as she doesn't give out autographs or has you-know-who sticking out of the back of her head, I guess it'll be alright." He murmured. Harry joined in.  
  
"Well, I don't suppose she's really locked in a trunk or something, is she? I can't say anything about Lupin though, he was the only normal one!" He laughed.  
  
Hi ya! I'm in an unusually good mood today, so dont spoil it!! 


	6. Isis's Defense

STUPID JELLO!! Pudding was not meant to be chewy. grr.  
  
Chappie Six!! Defense against the Dark Arts with Isis! Go me!  
  
"Good morning, Gryffindor." Isis laughed softly to herself. "I'm sorry, this is a bit strange for me. But anyway, I'm Isis Ishtar, your new Defense against the Dark Arts instructor. I trust this class to be one of my better-behaved ones. I have heard good things--and bad things, but considering there was only one professor who had anything bad to say, I'm going with majority vote. Now, this year, we're going to be going over several new things." Her voice went serious, making the three foreign boy's smiles go wider. They knew what was coming next, they could see the glint in her eyes.  
  
"You can't do everything with a wand. Up till you're of age, you really can't unless it's life threatening. Do you think a simple Shield Charm could block a bullet? Will disillusionment mystify a true marksman?" She threw a knife quickly, not a millimeter from Dean Thomas's shoe. Everyone gasped. "Were you scared?" She asked simply. Dean looked at the knife, and then back at her.  
  
"Are you mad?!" He exclaimed angrily. Isis just smiled wider.  
  
"You shouldn't have been. First, it would be illegal for me to hurt a student. Second, look where the knife would have hit. Your foot, and the very side of it at that. Madam Pomfrey could patch that up in two seconds! That's what I'm talking about!" She threw another one, this one directly above Lavender Browns head. "Now, she, on the other hand, had every right to be at least a bit worried about a miss. Quite frankly, I would be too. She doesn't know how good I am. All she knows is that I brushed the top of her head and it probably didn't feel too good." There was a soft murmur of a laugh. "Malik's done that a few times to me. I'm extremely lucky he's only missed once, but it was on the opposite side of me." Hermione raised her hand.  
  
"What about the new ones, they haven't caught up with us." She pointed out. Isis nodded.  
  
"I know. They will be taking extra classes on the last two years, as the first two years were a joke." This was followed by a much larger amount of laughter. "And I'm glad to assure you that I promise there will be no reading of Lockhart this year. I'm afraid I would faint of the brightness of the smile that burns of a thousands Egyptian suns!" As soon as the class settled down, her face went serious again.  
  
"But anyway, it's very important you know what you're doing. There is absolutely no messing around in this class, because it could indeed result in a serious injury. You'll notice I didn't assign anyone any books, and I hope I can keep it all hands on, because it is the best way to work. We will work on some things that many adults can't do, like conjuring a corporeal Patronus, or assisting in stunning a dragon." She stopped and looked her younger brother in the eye. "No you don't. Either put that away or hand it over!" She hissed. Malik looked slightly hurt as he shifted in his seat.  
  
"Anyway, since I'm not much of a time waster, we'll be working on stunning today. I want you to get in pairs to work on this." She instructed simply as she got her own wand out. "Stupefy!" She cried at a nearby mouse, which fainted mid-scurry. "As you can see, it's not that hard, and is commonly used for nearly anything that needs stopped. To reverse the spell, you do the same thing, but say, 'Ennervate'. " And with that, she sat down at her desk, studying the same book she appeared to be reading last night.  
  
Ryou, of course, immediately caught Malik, rather afraid of being paired with Yugi or Seto, who, meanwhile, were glaring at each other with extreme dislike. Malik laughed softly.  
  
"I almost feel sorry for them." He chuckled, watching the two refuse to move. Ryou got his wand out and tried it first on Malik.  
  
"Stupefy!" He pointed his wand and yelled, but nothing happened. Looking slightly confused, he pointed and tried again, but to no avail, Malik still stood there, awake as ever.  
  
~~You're not trying hard enough.~~ Bakura told him.  
  
~Shut up, like you know~ Ryou answered, getting red in the face. "Faint, dammit!" He yelled, and out came an incredible burst of black lightning- like energy, heading straight for Malik. Everyone turned and looked at him. It wasn't often a bit of magic like a stunning spell sent a terrible chill up your spine. Malik, however, stood there, his mouth open wide. Isis looked up from her book, her eyes flashing dangerously.  
  
"Oh." She said softly, realizing what had happened. "Well, not so powerful then, you could end up hurting someone. And kindly use the incantation instead of whatever you said." Ryou nodded, still astonished at what he had managed to do. He had never had that much shadow energy before then, and even if he had, he wouldn't have been able to use it. He looked up at Malik, as though to make sure he was alright. Both Yugi and Seto were rather in awe at the boy's power as well. Since when had Ryou been able to do anything more than summon a monster or two out of the shadow realm?  
"Uh. Stupefy!" He said, repeating the same process. To his surprise, along with everyone else's, Malik immediately hit the floor, his eyes still open. "Er. wow."  
  
"What did I tell you! I said that there was something different about those people, didn't I?! No average person would have been able to send a Shadow Curse like that flying, especially not on their first real encounter with magic!" Hermione told Ron and Harry stubbornly.  
  
"Yeah," said Harry. "But they seem nice enough, don't they? It's not like they're working for Voldemort, like I told you. I would have felt it by now!" He insisted. He really didn't know why he was defending them, though. He didn't even really know them, and his cousin, Ryou, already freaked him out a bit. But he felt like he had to, like there was no other option. He did know, though, that he had to protect them, no matter the cost, no matter the reason. As realization struck him, he fell to his knees, clutching his forehead.  
  
"Harry?! Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione inquired.  
  
"Something's.wrong. he's. upset. " He managed before falling further to his knees. "Someone. has. to be. punished. his plan. something went wrong." Hermione and Ron looked at each other, worried.  
  
"We need to get him to Dumbledore." Ron stated the obvious. At that point, hearing something wrong, the four foreign teens ran up to the three. Yugi, as though by instinct, threw everything he was holding at Malik and put his hand on the taller boy's scar. He looked to his friends, and his eyes went wide.  
  
"Malik. this is bad, come help!" The boy cried. When Malik didn't make a move, Ryou quickly went and shoved Yugi out of the way. "Ryou, no, you can't!" said Yugi, watching Ryou wince slightly.  
  
"What are you doing! No, get away!" Hermione tried to shoo the boys away, who just rolled their eyes.  
  
"Relax, we're only helping him handle the pain. Ryou, cut it out, you know we won't let you." Malik told them simply, trying to push a rather resolved Ryou away. When Ryou refused to budge, he just sat down. "Just forget it Yugi. He's being stubborn, let him. If he wants the pain again, just lay off and allow him to reopen old wounds." He stressed this, patting Ryou's left shoulder. Ryou just gave Malik a look of disgust and let him take over.  
  
"Prat." He said. Malik smiled sheepishly.  
  
"I was willing to let you go on and bleed half to death." He told the white-haired teen coldly. Ryou just sat there, apparently upset. "Okay, let me see. There's this tall guy with a Michael Jackson-type voice, ew, red eyes, that's nice. And there's this little Ghoul-thing laying on the ground screaming. Make any sense to you, Yugi?" The spiky-haired boy shook his head.  
  
"You know who?" Ron asked Harry. The boy nodded.  
  
"No, I don't know who." said Malik sardonically.  
  
"Voldemort." Harry answered, pulling away from the blonde.  
  
"Volt-what?" Malik and Seto said at the same time.  
  
"Voldemort, the dark lord." Harry went on. "And he was using the Cruciatus Curse, a torturing spell, on a Death Eater. Why'd you call it a ghoul?"  
  
"Long story." Ryou said briskly. "You guys know what this means?" Ryou's eyebrows went up.  
  
"Batsu." Yugi guessed. Ryou shook his head.  
  
"Well, I guess we could, but what would be the fun in that? I say we freak him out first by sending out a few monsters, and then we get revenge, because, Malik, I think you've been gone, what, six months, and this old bat waltzes in and takes your place! They've even got similar disguises!" Ryou got excited.  
  
"Yeah, but he may not get too freaked out by a little blonde running after him!" Seto started. "I never was, and my arch-rival was his target. And then he took over my puppy." He whined.  
  
"So, we got him back." Yugi said. "But I wish you had kept Anzu. Anyway, I say the yamis go after him and we sit at home and watch. That's what I pretty much ended up doing in battle city.." He was cut off by a stern look from the two other item holders.  
  
"Well, I suggest we shut up and get to class, I really don't want detention on my first day."  
  
Meanwhile, Harry, Ron and Hermione stood and watched them plan and argue. Ron shook his head in defeat.  
  
"I don't even think they know who they're talking about." He moaned. Hermione, though, looked interested.  
  
"You know, I'm not so sure they don't. They look like they know what they're doing, they wouldn't be able to laugh if they didn't. And look, Ryou's the only one halfway serious now. " She pointed out. "Although I don't get what they said about wounds reopening, what do you think they were really doing, you know, when they put their hand on your scar?" Harry thought for a moment.  
  
"Well. my scar stopped hurting, and I think they said something about handling the pain. The vision stopped flashing, it got clearer.. It was as though he could read my mind. Like they could get the vision as well when they put their hand up there. And the pain did dull, quite a bit. Do you think maybe they were like, transferring part of the pain to themselves. I think that's what they meant about reopening old wounds. Didn't you see Malik's arm start to bleed by the time he was done?" Hermione stopped for second.  
  
"But that's not a very ordinary power! Rarer than being able to speak Parseltongue! I don't think even Dumbledore can do it!" Hermione cried.  
  
"I wonder if any of them can speak Parseltongue." said Harry thoughtfully.  
  
"Wouldn't surprise me if that one.. Malik, I think, could. I think he really should have been a Slytherin, he acts like one, that mordant tone of his!" Ron muttered scornfully. Harry smiled despite himself.  
  
"Yeah, but the hat must have had a good reason to put him in Gryffindor!" Hermione defended.  
  
"Ooh, creepy dungeon, this'll be fun!" Malik said, taking a quick glance at his surroundings. Overhearing this, Neville came up to the boys.  
  
"You're definitely new, because everyone knows that Snape's lessons are anything but fun." He said mournfully. This just made Malik grin all the wider.  
  
"Well, I suppose two can play at that game." He answered mischievously. Or at least, he thought, until he saw the potions master. "Oh god, Ryou, I am so sorry, I promise, it'll never happen again, oh Ryou, I know what you're thinking, I am such a jerk!" Ryou cut him off with a wave of his hand.  
  
"I can't pay attention to the both of you at once!" He hissed.  
  
"Oh.." Malik whispered softly, realizing that Bakura must be apologizing as well.  
  
"Okay, what the heck are you two so sorry about, now?" But he didn't need to ask anymore, because the look on his teacher's face told him exactly what must have happened. "Oh great!" He muttered to Malik. "He thinks I'm mad, doesn't he!" Malik flushed.  
  
"I think so."  
  
Ryou immediately slipped into the classroom and went straight to a desk next to Malik's. ~Okay, 'Kura. You got some explaining to do!~ The boy frowned inwardly. ~Oh! What did you do this time? Did you try to send him to the shadow realm, or what? Or did you take over, realized you were in trouble, and leave my body lifeless?~  
  
~~Uh. actually, both.~~ Ryou blinked a few times.  
  
~You just wait. oh, god, you just wait! How am I going to convince him that I'm not crazy? Or maybe that someone was taking over my mind? Actually, that would sort of be the truth, but that's not the point! Oh, I would tell Yami if I knew he wouldn't bug me about it. God!!~ No one could see this mental battle on the outside, though. He appeared to be listening intently to every word the professor said. But Malik, Yugi, and Seto knew better. It became rather obvious to them once the teacher was finished giving instructions, and he was still staring straight ahead. Malik slapped the back of his head.  
  
"Hey, you're already in trouble!" The teen hissed. "Oh, nevermind." He said dejectedly. 'Maybe I am crazy.' The boy thought to himself. "What are we doing?" He asked after a second.  
  
"So anyway, now I'm sure the bloke thinks I'm a madman now!" Ryou complained to his friends. Seto laughed softly.  
  
"Oh well. I'm sure he'll be told once Isis decides it's safe to tell the headmaster. Don't worry about it, I'm sure plenty of people think of me as a madman. Does it look like I really care?"  
  
"I don't think you have too much to worry about. I mean, he didn't really see Bakura, now did he? Had you split, that would have been a problem." Yugi assured him. They were in Transfiguration, which was certainly noisy enough to have a conversation. Ryou was trying to concentrate on his tortoise, though. All the others at least looked remotely like a teakettle. All he and his friends had managed to do was get a nasty bite.  
  
"Look, I think it's got like, a rose or something on it's shell, look!" Malik pointed to a spot on the shell, but just sighed after closer examination. "Nevermind, that's where Yugi scratched it." He said dolefully, poking it. Yugi, apparently frustrated, practically threw his wand at the tortoise, which seemed to disappear instantly.  
  
"My bet's Greenland." Seto said.  
  
"Nah, it's probably being fed to a certain bug by now." Yugi answered. "I can't believe that, when was the last time I sent something there!" He said, angry.  
  
"I think I might have sent a mop to the shadow realm this morning, if it's any consolation." The other boys looked at Malik, as though he were crazy. He shrugged. "Well, I was mad at Ryou, right. And the mop looked just like Ryou's head from behind." Ryou rolled his eyes.  
  
"Professor McGonagall!" He raised his hand. "I think we're going to need a new turtle. and maybe a trip to Madam Pomfrey, that bite looks awful nasty Malik." The professor walked over.  
  
"Oh, yes, go on, Ishtar. you too, Bakura.." She said distractedly.  
  
"Wow Ryou. Never knew you were one to skive!" Malik told Ryou sarcastically. The other boy smiled softly.  
  
"Yeah. you'd be surprised." He answered, apparently distracted over something as well. "You know, we've got divination next. think it'd be cheating if I. well, kind of cheated?" Malik's eyes twinkled.  
  
"There are no rules against it!" He replied excitedly. "Only if I can use it some too, though!"  
  
"Who said anything about that? I'm the one who took it. well, not really, but still, it's mine and Bakura's only, mm-hmm!" Malik blinked.  
  
"Pumpkin juice getting to your head or something, Ry'? That 'mm-hmm!' sounds familiar, but not from you." He trailed off, looking at a portrait. "Now that's art, look, Ryou, it looks just like Yugi's head!" The two laughed, looking at some sort of odd fruit.  
  
"Oh, yeah, I'm not sure who I stole it from. study-buddy's what comes to mind. Wait a minute, where's Madam Pomfrey's office? I think we're lost. "  
  
"Bit obvious. Hey, you! The knight guy!" He ran up to a picture of a blond knight. "You know where Madam Pomfrey is?" He asked desperately. The knight looked at him for a second, and then brandished his sword at him.  
  
"Back, ye knave!" He said. Malik raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Come here, Ryou! I think we've found that Sir Cadegon Harry was talking about!" He motioned for Ryou to come. "Seems crazy enough, doesn't he?"  
  
"I think that's him, yeah. But I wouldn't really know. I've never met a mad knight before. They were before my time. or after, I'm really not sure about that one." He trailed off. "You know, I think we'd be best asking a student somewhere, I don't particularly like the idea of relying on a picture." Malik nodded his head in agreement.  
  
"Yeah, you're probably right. But that doesn't seem like you. You're supposed to be the trusting dunderhead." Ryou glared at him.  
  
"What do you mean, 'trusting dunderhead!!!' I am not a trusting dunderhead!!" Malik held up his hands defensively.  
  
"Hey! Hey, that's not my name, that's Seto's, get mad at him, not me! I was just being the copycat, like always!!" He cried, covering his head. Ryou put his own hands down but kept a death glare on Malik.  
  
"I think that's it. Several people are nursing wounds outside it." Ryou pointed to a line of people, who were indeed nursing all sorts of various injuries, including an understatement of buckteeth, something that made a boy's nose swell to the size of a small watermelon, and a rather large gash on the side of a girl's arm spelling out 'SNEAK'. Malik chuckled.  
  
"Well, I imagine that now I've seen everything."  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~  
  
Kenshin: Ugh. why'd you bring me here *now*! I was about to defeat Sheshio! (That how it spelled?) Me: Cause I'm the authoress and I can do whatever I want, that's why!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Ryou: Well. it's official. we've lost her. Kurama: Well. better at the end of a chapter, I suppose. Random Fangirl: OOH!! BISHIES!!! Kurama: *rolls eyes and throws a bunch of death seeds* Move and die. Kenshin: HELLO!! 1867, JAPAN STILL NEEDS SAVING!!! EXCUSE ME!!! Me: Not right now it doesn't. Yahiko's your apprentice, he can hold Sheshio off for a while!! Others: *sweatdrop* Kenshin: IT IS MY DUTY TO STOP SHESHIO, PEOPLE COULD DIE, YAHIKO COULD DIE, AND YOU WILL DIE IF YOU DON'T SEND ME BACK!! Me: WATCH IT, BATOSAI!! I'm the authoress, trust me, I wouldn't dare let cute little Yahiko die! Maybe Aioshi, but never little Yahiko!! ^__^ Fred: Who's Yahiko? George: Or Aioshi? Kenshin: AH!!! STICK THINGIES!!! I'M GONNA DIE!!!!!! NO!!!!!!! wait. *looks at sword, then at the wands* Heh he heh!  
  
This has been a random moment with the bishies! 


	7. Safe, Are we?

Chappie Seven. Wow, who ever thought I would get this far! Ryou: I never did. Kenshin: YEA!! I THOUGHT EVERYONE ELSE LEFT, RYOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ryou: v_v yeah, I kinda can't leave. I'm in this fic.T_T  
  
Twilight Mysteries  
  
'I don't get it.' Ryou thought to himself. 'They trust him. it's all I've wanted these last few weeks, but now that I have it. why do I feel so nervous? Is it because I don't trust him myself? Why does it feel so weird to think about this? All I've wanted is peace and trust, but now that I truly have it, why does it kill me to think that my best friends know that I truly have it? Why do I feel like I was better off with the small suspicions and the jumpy conclusions. Why?' Tears streamed down his face as he thought about this. He didn't have to worry right then about Bakura intruding on his thoughts, or calling him a wimp. They had spilt earlier so Bakura could spend some time out to the ring, and was eating dinner right now. Ryou, for the simple reason of secrecy, had skipped supper and sat in his four-poster and simply thought. He wiped his tears away.  
  
"Cut it out!" He scolded himself aloud. Ryou laughed softly to himself. "Heh. I must be going insane." He added. He shoved these thoughts away and picked up a book he had brought along.  
  
As he cut through the dense woods-- cut. His old wound, it had opened again!-- Kayo didn't see the fiend watching his every move-- fiend. No, Bakura could never be the old Fiend he once was, it would never happen again!! --up in the trees. He stalled for a moment, stopping to take in his surroundings. The demon took his chance and pounced!-- Demon. Those soulless, demon eyes. they overtook him, his world encased in shadows. He couldn't see, the darkness had engulfed the light, there was nothing but black all around him.  
  
"Safe, are we Ryou?" A deep voice so unlike his own called out to him. He felt he had no other choice. He opened his mouth wide and screamed,  
  
"BAKURA!!!"  
  
~BAKURA!!!~ Bakura jolted with a start.  
  
"Something's wrong." He put down everything he was eating and ran as fast as he could to the Gryffindor common room, followed quickly by Yami and Malik.  
  
"What was that all about?" Seamus, who was seated nearby, asked Harry. Harry shook his head.  
  
"No idea whatsoever." He answered, getting up, grabbing Ron and Hermione to follow the other three.  
  
"Wait! Harry, we can't follow them, it could be private!" Hermione cried, but Ron was just as curious as he. Together, they managed to drag her along almost as quickly as the people ahead of them.  
  
"Is it Ryou?" Malik gasped between breaths. Bakura nodded as he ran, and then replied a simple 'yes' upon realizing no one was looking directly at him.  
  
"You better hope he's okay, tomb robber!" said Yami, who had no need to gasp with the energy he had built up with some of the candies at dinner.  
  
"You've been watching me, how could I do anything to him!"  
  
"Soul room." Yami answered simply. Bakura rolled his eyes. He would probably never get Yami off his back.  
  
"Ryou! Ryou, are you okay!!" The three item holders burst into a room, where a not-very-pretty sight met them. Ryou, sprawled on the window seat, was covered in blood, protruding from a cavity in the chest. "No, Ryou, you can't be hurt!" He cried. Naturally, it didn't take long for Harry, Ron and Hermione to come rushing in.  
  
"See- I told you so." Hermione panted before fainting dead.  
  
"Two.two Ryou's?" Ron blinked a few times. Harry, on the other hand didn't seem too surprised.  
  
"Oh. well, that explains a lot. Come on, Ron, we need to get these two to the hospital wing." Together, they scooped up Ryou, who was immediately snatched up by his twin.  
  
"I'll take my hikari, thank you very much!" He snapped. Harry shrugged calmly, and took Hermione instead.  
  
"Each to his own, I suppose." He muttered. "Come on, we can't let him bleed all over the place like that!" He instructed. He tested his strength and put Hermione down. "Stay here with Hermione, we'll get her later." He told Ron, and motioned for the rest to follow. "I hope you can run with him, he already could have died from blood loss. Don't worry, he's still breathing!! Here she is, I'm going to get Professor Dumbledore, he can help." He pointed to the wing, and ran off in the opposite direction.  
  
"Pomfrey!" Bakura ordered upon entering. "Do something about this, he's going to die if he isn't already dead." He said, a mask of coldness covering his true emotions. The nurse looked at the two in confusion, but didn't bother asking any questions.  
  
"I'll go get Isis, Bakura. You two, no bickering. You and I both know it wasn't Bakura, so cut that theory right now!" Malik sneered at Yami as he ran off.  
  
"Professor!" Harry bust in the headmaster's door. It had taken him quite a while to figure out this year's password (jelly slugs), and didn't plan on wasting anymore time. What he saw inside almost shocked him as much as seeing Ryou's blood splattered all over the room. There appeared to be a meeting going on, including a few people he knew, but more he didn't, that included Remus Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody, almost all of his teachers, and Sirius. He wanted to greet them all, but knew he didn't have time.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore! Ryou, well, two of them, is in big trouble! It looks like a knife wound, and I don't think anyone knows who did it." He shouted across the room, receiving a few looks from the other people. Dumbledore, however, got up with no questions and followed Harry, who was also followed by a few others, including Moody, Lupin, and a great black dog. "He was still breathing when we found him. But there was blood everywhere, it looked like he should have died twice over from blood loss. The other Ryou was howling, he snatched the first Ryou back away from me, like I would hurt him more or something. Hermione passed out, and Ron's with her." He explained as he ran along. "See!" He pointed into the hospital wing, where they could see Madam Pomfrey hunched over her patient.  
  
"Isis, get your butt over here, I need you, Ryou needs you! Come on, I know you're in there!" Malik banged on the locked door.  
  
"What the bloody hell are you doing! Certainly you know how to pick a lock." Malik turned around at the voice.  
  
"Isis!" He looked as though he had never been happier to see his sister in his life. "Come on, put that stuff down, Ryou's in the hospital wing, he's out of it, and can't tell us what happened. No, it wasn't Bakura, he was down at dinner with us." He took her stuff and threw it somewhere nearby the door before dragging her along. "Please say you know where the hospital wing is, this is only my third time down there." He added pathetically.  
  
"Now, tell us once more exactly what happened." The headmaster instructed calmly, despite the panic that rushed through the room. "And who this young man is."  
  
"Well." Ryou started, blushing slightly from the attention. "Well, his name is Bakura." He looked to Yugi for help.  
  
"It's a really long story." Yugi told him. "I don't know if we should tell you. Not without I- I mean, Professor Ishtar here. just in case. er, do you think you could wait a few minutes, we have to ask her if Ryou being seriously injured counts as a problem? Heh, knowing her, who knows. " He trailed off, seeing an extremely puzzled Isis being pulled along by her younger brother.  
  
"And here she is. Isis, we got caught. should we just make them forget everything or tell?" Bakura asked in a impertinent tone. He was getting bored, with several people having seen him and not one of them in the shadow realm. Isis's eyes widened.  
  
"FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL AND YOU ALREADY GOT CAUGHT, TOMB ROBBER!!!!" The Egyptian woman roared.  
  
"Well, Yami here and Malik didn't contribute much to the secrecy, and technically, it wasn't my fault. Ryou was locked up in the four-poster, hiding so we didn't get caught. It doesn't really help much when something like that happens, I think it was the Witty Phantom." He said, fiddling with a pocketknife. "Besides, you and I both knew it wouldn't last long with Malik bumbling around it." This obviously didn't help much, as the girl's face went a bright red.  
  
"Well, spill it then. Just leave me out of it, until you get to the tauk." She shrugged and sat down in a chair.  
  
"Well," Yugi started. "It all started about. er, five thousand years ago, I believe. There was a tomb robber, an assassin, and a pharaoh. Egypt, obviously."  
  
"They were all dark spirits." Malik added unnecessarily.  
  
"Yes," Ryou interjected. "Anyway, there was a big war going on right then between. well everyone, really. It was over power, but if you were there, you'd know, it was over the power of the shadow realm rather that of the actual land. These three, these dark souls, were the three most powerful at the shadow games."  
  
"Yup!" said Bakura energetically. "We could use it whenever, wherever. I'd say it was pretty useful for some of those traps. Yeah, especially Yami's dad." He paused for a possible explosion. The fact that one never came put a slight damper on his outlook, but he nonetheless continued. "Anyway, that smart pharaoh decided that the 'shadow creatures are too powerful to use! They could kill innocent people!' I believe were his words. Knowing of course, that we wouldn't put up with that, he trapped my unwilling soul in that ring around Ryou's neck, and made Marik go insane k, and trapped his own self inside that puzzle 'round the pharaoh's hikari." He managed to cut his thumb somehow, and licked the blood off. " As for the shadow games, those went inside all seven items, including random powers."  
  
"Yeah, only Yami knows all the powers of them, but he forgot." Yugi added.  
  
"Yes. There are seven items in all, and five of them are safe here with us. The other two belong to Shadi, and he can take care of himself." Ryou said.  
  
"Five?" Yugi asked. Bakura rolled his eyes and dug in his pocket for the Sennen Eye, showed it to the boy, and shoved it back into it's place. "Oh."  
  
"Marik somewhere in Malik's head. He was the assassin, if you didn't figure out. Bakura was the tomb robber, and Yami seems somewhat secluded, because he would have gotten bored in the puzzle by now." Ryou explained. "We're, I guess you could say, their light side. Two halves of a whole person."  
  
"Anyway, what does that have to do with Ryou's injury, right? And I'm not being quiet, Yugi just didn't have the energy!" Yami split and snapped at Ryou. "Well, when Pegasus got a hold of the Sennen eye, he opened up the shadow realm again. We're working on trying to close it without a big three- soul sacrifice. Well, every once in a while, there will be a rogue or perhaps a monster on orders, that isn't particularly happy to see me. So, they attack. Doesn't matter who, to them. Ryou just happened to be the victim this time." Yami answered.  
  
"Now, could you erase those kid's mind again, I don't want them remembering us. If you don't, I will." Bakura threatened, earning a look from Ryou. "What, I have every right to, they saw me. " He told his hikari stubbornly. Yami rolled his eyes.  
  
"Cut it out, tomb robber. Yeah, go ahead and do that, with Harry at least. I don't think Hermione would remember anyway, and we can convince Ron it was all a dream." said Yami.  
  
"I imagine we're pretty good at that by now, Yugi. " Ryou commented.  
  
"Yes, I must agree. I mean, how often do three people have the same dream. And yet they still sucked it up. It was actually rather pathetic, even for Anzu."  
  
"Heh he. lady of faith. What, three hundred attack points, it's rather pitiful." Ryou laughed softly.  
  
"Better than a silly half-angel magic card!!" Yami defended out of nowhere.  
  
"Watch out, Yami's getting angry." said Bakura sadistically. "No, you really should. He can like, play a batsu game on you or something. I really don't like the shadow realm, and I doubt any of you mortals could stand it for more than five minutes. Or he could 'mind crush' you. That's one of his freakier things though, cause it comes out of nowhere and hardly anyone can survive it, mm-hmm." He added, causing the hikaris to laugh harder.  
  
"Okay, Yami, you'd best shut up." Ryou warned halfheartedly.  
  
So, about two hours later, they managed to get Harry's mind erased, convince Ron he had to be dreaming, and bring Hermione around, who didn't remember anything anyway. Ryou had to spend the night in the hospital wing, accompanied by his Yami, who had disdainfully given up his physical form and looked slightly transparent to the few who could see him. The cut wasn't deep, but even so, he lost a lot of blood, and was forced to take a potion that tasted worse than skele-grow, a Blood-Replenishing concoction.  
  
"Oh well." He choked after swallowing several glasses of water. "Still better than caviar." But up until then, he had felt fine. It wasn't until now that he had really thought about what had happened. It wasn't Bakura's fault. was it? Wasn't that who he was thinking about right before it had happened?  
  
"Yami?" Ryou whispered softly. Bakura's form jolted with a start.  
  
"You aren't asleep yet? What's the matter, you don't look too good hikari." He looked down at his light, his eyes shining with concern. Ryou smiled.  
  
"I wish everyone could see this side of you, Bakura. But. I was wondering, Yami. well, I was thinking about you. right before it happened. And then I was reading, and I was worried that it would change again. and then it went black. and a voice. it said 'Safe, are we Ryou?'. Yami." Bakura's eyes widened.  
  
"Aibou. I can't change the past.and I can't say I regret it all, I won't lie.. But I promise, it won't be like that again. And as for you being safe? I won't let you be hurt anymore. I promise."  
  
"You. going to classes. in Ryou's place. that's just freaky." Malik summed up after Bakura told them.  
  
"Well, no one else knows that Ryou's hurt. And it's not like I've been absolutely horrible at pretending to be him. I've got the accent and everything. And I've been watching him from the inside, and know how he reacts to most things. All I really have to do is sit down and shut up." said Bakura, shrugging. "Besides, it's not like Ryou was really looking forward to these classes, look, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, he took an extra Arithmancy course, wasn't required, think I'll skip that, and Ancient Runes, whatever that is." He added, glancing at his schedule.  
  
"I didn't take Arithmancy, sounds too much like math. We all got Ancient Runes though, Yami convinced me to. Look, quidditch tryouts, I heard about it at the Weasleys. Some sort of flying game, on brooms. You would enjoy that, Bakura. Only one open for Gryffindor, though. Keeper, whatever that is. " Yugi pointed out.  
  
"Ryou was looking at a book called 'Quidditch Through the Ages'. A keeper blocks the goals. I may try it, it sounds pretty interesting. have to learn how to fly though." He added.  
  
"Kaoru!" Bakura cried upon reaching Care of Magical Creatures. Seto was no longer taking classes with them, he had been moved up to the seventh years due to his age. But the rest of them had remained with the fifth years, seeing as they weren't quite as old as Kaiba. For there first Care of Magical Creatures lesson, Hagrid had somehow gotten a sphinx. And it just happened to be one that both Yami and Bakura were familiar with, as she had guarded Yami's father's tomb.  
  
"Yeh know her?" The giant of a man asked. Bakura nodded.  
  
"Yes, back in Egypt." He answered. Hagrid wasn't aware of the Pharaoh, nor the Tomb Robber, so he was slightly confused when the boy added, "I had to get past her a few times. rather hard riddles then."  
  
"Say what?" He asked, slightly alarmed.  
  
"Oh. Dumbledore didn't tell you. oops." He whispered, earning a whap from both Malik and Yami, who had taken over upon seeing the sphinx.  
  
"I'm sure he'll explain later!!" Malik told him, dragging a somewhat dazed Bakura along.  
  
"What'd you have to go do that for.?" Several minutes later the Slytherins arrived, and Malik hid behind the other two.  
  
"Just use that thing you have stuck in your pocket to send a message. Say like, 'you don't know me.' or something freaky." Yami advised. Malik quickly obliged, meanwhile adding quite a few threats. Bakura laughed as he glanced over at Malik, a terrified look on his face.  
  
"I hear Harry and his friends have trouble with him. Add that too." Bakura told him. Malik smirked as he did that as well.  
  
"This is fun!" He commented.  
  
"Yugi said that he'll kill you if you go through with those threats." Malik stuck his tongue out.  
  
"Yeah, him and what army?" He sneered. It took a while for the rest of the class to arrive. Bakura had somehow managed to get in a heated threat-a- thon with one of the Slytherins whose name wasn't known. Even Malik was surprised at some of the ones he threw. Besides the obvious insinuation that his Man-Eater-Bug was in desperate need of a snack, he warned of death by whatever a bludger was, named several complicated curses that Ryou had obviously looked up, and, for good measure, sent out an illusion of a Morphing Jar. Of course, he realized he had to shut up, because everyone was staring at him in awe.  
  
"I'll deal with you later. I have enough on my hands right now." He blew the other teen off.  
  
"Er. all right then!" Hagrid continued the lesson.  
  
"Ryou, you're trying out for quidditch!" Harry exclaimed when Bakura entered the quidditch field. Bakura nodded.  
  
"Yeah, I've never played before, but I'll give it a try. It looks like fun, from what I saw." And with that, he jumped on his broom and took off. ~~Ryou. you don't mind, do you?~~ He asked at the last minute once he entered the air. He could hear Ryou sigh.  
  
~A little late for that, don't you think? Go ahead, it's not like it really matters to me.~  
  
"Wow, you're pretty good." He could hear Harry comment.  
  
"Okay," A girl instructed. "Katie and I are going to be taking turns going after the goals. It'll be just like a game, so relax. Just Keep the goals, and we'll get you on that."  
  
Bakura found this amazingly easy. With his thieving skills, it was simpler merely to take it from them than to catch it whenever they tried to toss it.  
  
"Wow," The quidditch captain, Angelina Johnson told him. "You'd be pretty good as a seeker, too. But we've already got one of the best." She pointed to Harry. "You can probably count on hearing from us. You're the best we've seen all night!" She said excitedly. Bakura smiled, waved to Harry, and left quickly, heading for the hospital wing.  
  
"Where are you going?" A slimy voice said from behind him. Bakura, not bothering to turn around, innocently said,  
  
"Hospital wing." And kept on walking.  
  
"You don't look hurt." The figure of Snape caught up and stood in front of him. Bakura pretended to look around on his body.  
  
"Huh. Guess we'll have to fix that, won't we?" Bakura smiled, looked the professor in the eye, brought his wrist up to his mouth, and bit down. Hard. "Ah, that's better." He looked at his wrist. "See you!" He said cheerily as he skipped off, a tiny trail of blood following him. When he hopped into the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey took a double take before realizing it was Bakura.  
  
"Oh. He's back that way, he's been anxious all day, poor thing." She pointed to the beds in the back. Bakura nodded and moved on. Several minutes later, Snape came running in after him.  
  
"Where'd he go!!" He demanded.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"That mad Bakura kid! Where is he!"  
  
"Oh, he's back that way, but I don't know-" Snape didn't pay attention as he rushed past the nurse. He pulled back a curtain that had two shady characters behind.  
  
"Oh, hello Professor." The one he recognized from earlier said.  
  
"Yami!!" The other, who looked exactly like him, but somewhat less. evil, glared at the darker one. "What'd you get me into this time!! This was already the one you got thinking I was crazy!"  
  
"Who me? Nah, you're confusing me with Malik, certainly. Professor, this is my light side, Ryou. You already know my name, I heard you yelling it up front. Bakura, no last name, just Bakura." He smiled a chibi-like smile.  
  
Madam Pomfrey came rushing back. "Oh, I was afraid this would happen!" She cried. Bakura just smiled his little smile and went back to Ryou.  
  
"I think you've got Keeper. We just have to teach you how to fly later. It's actually pretty easy. That was my first time on a broom, you know. It was pretty easy, I loved it. If you don't, I can take over for the games and stuff. It would be really great, you don't even have to pay attention." He told his hikari.  
  
"Yami, there are greater matters at hand than Quidditch. Like whether or not to erase Professor Snape's mind." Ryou snapped.  
  
"Nah, it'll be better for your teachers to know. Speaking of teachers, you should really quit Arithmancy, it's really boring. Yugi and Yami were right not to, it is a lot like the math they keep complaining about. That, and you have two years to catch up on anyway, it's a bit ridiculous to take extra classes." He kept on. Ryou resorted to simply whapping him over the head.  
  
"Yes." Ryou muttered under his breath. "Peace and quiet. Now, cause you're a teacher and Professor Dumbledore was going to tell you soon anyway, I suggest you just accept it and let me catch up on homework, 'Kay?" Ryou winked and dove into the bag Bakura had brought with him. A muffled 'You broke three quills!' could be heard through the shuffling. Snape stared for a moment, turned and left, shaking his head.  
  
"Yami, go get Yugi's notes, you didn't seem to take any."  
  
Okay. I don't know if I can do the muttering in the sleep thing. but the other where moldy Voldie gets Malfoy. okay, I won't reveal just what I'll do with that yet. Don't worry, Harry, Ron, and Hermione will know sometime around Halloween. Something similar will happen- but to someone else. Ryou/Ginny coming soon!! God, I just finished chapter 7 and IT'S ONLY THEIR SECOND DAY OF SCHOOL!!!! Oh, and for those of you who have recently finished the fifth book. J.K. ROWLING IS ALMOST AS BAD AS JELL-O! I don't know if I'll kill him or not yet. But it'll be good, it would give Malik- chan a good reason to get angry and let Marik-chan out of that corner of his head. 


	8. Hermione's discovery

Hi ya, y'all! I'm so happy today. I'M HOME AND NOT GROUNDED FROM THE COMPUTER!!! That's a record. I was at my grandma's all week cause my parents decided to take a cruise. WAH!! THEY DIDN'T TAKE ME!! Oh well, here's chapter eight. Enjoy!  
  
"Oh. Hello Angelina." Bakura greeted nonchalantly, imitating his hikari's voice as closely as possible. Angelina had somehow caught up to him, even though he was currently in an empty classroom, completely lost.  
  
"Hi Bakura! Listen, I just wanted to tell you, you've got keeper. The rest of the team got together and agreed you were the best. Your reserve is Ron Weasley, he's decent, but you're loads better. I'll be seeing you then!" She said briskly, and running off.  
  
"Wait a minute, Johnson!!" Bakura cried. "I need directions to the tower. I'm lost." Angelina laughed. (okay, that was a stupid scene. cool!)  
  
"Yugi Muto." Yugi jumped from the cold voice behind him.  
  
"Oh. Bakura, you scared me. What do you want?" Yugi smiled his little kawaii smile, which Bakura attempted to ignore.  
  
"Your notes." He answered simply. "I was asleep through most of the classes." He explained quickly. Yugi just smiled again.  
  
"You have to ask Hermione." He told him sweetly. "I only took three of the classes you took, and all of those were practical. Didn't you skip Arithmancy?" He asked.  
  
"Oh yeah. nevermind then, I'll be on my way!" He said heartily. "Oh, and Ryou's fine, he'll be out of the hospital wing soon. I have to go see him, and hopefully avoid any questions again. That Snape guy followed me all the way to Ryou, it was freaky. Ooh, I know!" And with that, he ran up to his dormitory. Yugi rolled his eyes.  
  
"Ryou! Ryou, come read this, something's wrong back in Egypt!" Malik cried. It was Saturday morning, and Ryou still hadn't got out of the hospital wing. Malik had run in, a paper in hand, followed quickly by Yugi. "Isis went home last night with just a note, and it's in Arabic, she even forgot to write in English. Here!" He shoved it under Ryou's nose.  
  
Malik,  
  
Sorry to leave so soon. Rishid's in trouble at home. Be on your guard, several tablets describing the Sennen items were stolen. Guards dead, no obvious reasons for death. Looks like magic. I have to go home and help out. Won't be back, I've already been replaced. Watch out for Harry Potter. I hear from Dumbledore that Voldemort will not rest until he's dead. Let him know of the dangers as soon as Dumbledore sees fit. I will see you as soon as I can. Take care.  
  
Isis  
  
Ryou's eyes widened. "You mean. Another psycho after the Items? This is getting a bit ridiculous, when Rishid and Isis are getting involved. I mean, sure, Isis has the tauk, but it shouldn't go any deeper than that, she should stay here to keep it safe!" Malik sighed.  
  
"Yeah. That brings us to another thing." Yugi held out the tauk. "We went to breakfast this morning, Yami had a bad feeling, but we didn't think anything of it. Dumbledore found us and asked us if we knew anything about what happened. And then, Nightshade swooped in holding that note. Dumbledore will be here soon, demanding an explanation. We told them mostly everything about them, but we never told them the dangers." Yugi said.  
  
"Well this just really sucks! No one else needs to get into this, and I just know that somehow half the school will get sucked in by this Voldemort person. And your cousin, Ryou, that Harry kid, if this is that Voldemort guy's fault, then he's the one who they're after, or so Isis says. What if they get a hold of the Sennen Items and use them against him. I don't sense hardly any Shadow Power, he wouldn't last five minutes in the Shadow Realm!" Malik hissed.  
  
"I can hardly, and I have Yami!" Yugi cried. Ryou nodded. They had no time to discuss this, as Professor Dumbledore) had rushed in. The Yamis split and sat down, looking alert and worried. (Yes, Bakura was worried, got it!) Ryou sat up attentively, and Yugi and Malik remained standing, staring at their feet.  
  
"Hello, again." said Dumbledore calmly. The boys remained silent. "I see that you have not told us everything, apparently." Bakura looked directly at the man.  
  
"That night, it didn't seem necessary to point out the dangers of the Shadow Realm. From what I see, you people have plenty to worry about as it is, without bothering with our safety. Tell us what you know, and we will tell you what we know." Yugi made a noise as though to protest, but his Yami stopped him.  
  
"Very well." Dumbledore nodded. He waved his wand and a chair appeared by the bed. He took a seat in it, and began to explain.  
  
"As you may well already know, fifteen years ago, Voldemort was one of the most powerful wizards in the entire world. It seemed that he would never be stopped, as though he were immortal. But one Halloween night, he made the mistake of going to kill the Potters. And that is where most everyone thought he had met his end. As he went to kill Harry, he didn't know that he would not be killing him that night, but instead starting the terms of a Prophecy that was made shortly before Harry's birth. He did not know that his own curse would backfire. You see, his mother died to save him, giving him protection from being killed that night. And so, Harry got his scar, marking him as Voldemort's equal. Recently, Voldemort has come back. And the prophecy says that only Harry can kill him, as only Voldemort can kill Harry."  
  
"Does Harry know?" Yami immediately asked. Dumbledore shook his head sadly.  
  
"Not yet." The hikaris took a moment. Even Bakura blinked a few times.  
  
"A prophecy does not make it so." He told the man defiantly. "If it were, then I would no longer be here, and the pharaoh wouldn't be either. You make your own fate."  
  
"I must agree, from what I understand, you have broken a few of your own. But, is it also not true that an alternative can be more dangerous?" They took a moment to stare at one another. Everyone was slightly taken aback when Bakura was the first to go down, for not even he could stand the icy glare.  
  
"I believe it is my turn to listen."  
  
"Right. Well, as the tomb robber told you, we didn't want to drag anyone else into this. We figured it was our business to deal with the psychos stupid enough to try and face me for my own Sennen Puzzle, like I would give it up." He paused and glanced at Malik. "We've been able to defend ourselves from the others, what made this demon any different? Although your magic is incredibly weak in comparison to our own, it seems that if we tried we would fail, more than likely losing our hikaris in the process.  
  
"After seeing what has happened to Isis and Rishid. and well, the dead guards left behind, we became even more angry. If they really wanted information on the Sennen Items, he should have left those two out of it! They should have come to us, at least we're used to it."  
  
"I see. What are the other dangers of the shadow realm?" The professor asked.  
  
"Well, the obvious one, from a couple nights ago. Like Yami told you, no average mortal could last very long in the shadow realm. As powerful as we are with the Sennen Items, Yugi and I can't take it for long periods of time. It will devour your very soul. The worst possible punishment imaginable is being banished to the Shadow Realm. I should know, my Yami has before. I'm not sure of the truthfulness of this, but I've heard that if you stay there and allow yourself to be consumed, you'll be turned into one of the darker monsters. Man Eater Bug, Dark Necrophilia, Morphing Jar. etcetera, etcetera, etcetera." He counted off.  
  
"Basically, all the monsters in your deck."  
  
"Change of Heart!"  
  
"Half demon, then, whatever. But I doubt that theory, 'cause then where would the nice or neutral things come from? You know, Empress Judge and such."  
  
"Kuriboh!" Ryou teased. Bakura laughed.  
  
"Maybe I'm finally rubbing off on you, aibou!" Bakura said between laughs. Ryou froze. No one but Bakura seemed to notice though.  
  
"Well, I suppose you'd best be getting back. Ryou, Madam Pomfrey says it's alright for you to go as well."  
  
"Um. one more thing!" Malik said. "Who replaced Isis?" Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling.  
  
"You probably don't know of him. He was a teacher here two years ago. His name is Remus Lupin."  
  
"Well, Ginny-chan, we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Ryou said, slightly annoyed.  
  
"Really? Where'd Professor Ishtar go?" She asked, looking up from her homework.  
  
"Home. She and Malik, and their stepbrother, Rishid, own a museum in Cairo. Something rather important was stolen, and it really doesn't make sense because no one is really able to interpret it. Not unless they have an idea of what it's about, anyway." He pointed to his shirt, under which his ring was hidden. Quite frankly, he was glad he had someone else to talk to about this sort of stuff. Sure, Malik, Bakura, Yugi and Yami were okay, but just the fact that he knew them so well made it so boring to talk about. He already knew everything they would say.  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
"Do you know a Remus Lupin?" Ginny gasped, and her eyes widened.  
  
"Professor Lupin! Oh, that's wonderful, he's coming back!! Oh, we have to go tell the others, they'll be positively ecstatic!" She cried.  
  
"Yeah. okay." He murmured halfheartedly.  
  
"Harry! Harry, you won't believe it!! Professor Lupin's coming back!" Harry stared at the two in disbelief.  
  
"Are you kidding!!" Ron finally busted. Ginny shook her head.  
  
"That's odd. Where'd Ishtar go?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Home." Malik answered from behind her, making the girl jump. "A few things were stolen at the museum we own. It's rather stupid though, they killed all the guards to get something they'll misread anyway. No one understands it."  
  
"Really? No ideas whatsoever?" She inquired.  
  
"Well, if I told you, Bakura or Yugi there would kill you, and then me. Not really worth it. Anyway, this guy's going to replace her, at least until things back home are all cleared up. I still worry though, that maybe they can read the tablets. that there would be bad, as then we would probably be killed anyway."  
  
"I wouldn't kill you, honestly." Ryou defended. "Sure, I might hurt you really bad, and make you suffer for slipping up again, but I could never kill you. Not yet, anyway."  
  
"I don't know if I would. Nah, my hands are too stained to be bothered with ridding of you." Malik raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Was that Yugi talking?"  
  
"No, it's the evil spirit that takes over his body once in a while!"  
  
~~~~Hermione's POV~~~~  
  
"No, it's the evil spirit that takes over his body once in a while!" Yugi said. Only. I don't know why, but that struck a chord in my head. Where had I heard that before!! And then that little comment about stained- hands. That definitely wasn't very Yugi-like. Still. Evil Spirit. That was it!! The Millennium Puzzle!!  
  
"I'm going to the library!" I told them hurriedly. But I didn't go to the library. Not straight away, anyway. I went to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office. Professor Lupin was about to walk out as I knocked on the door.  
  
"Oh! Hello, Hermione. I suppose if you're looking for Professor Ish-  
  
"No," I cut him off. "All I need is to get a book out of the Restricted Section of the library. Please, it's very important." I handed him a note. He looked at it for a moment.  
  
"You can read Arabic?" I sighed and nodded. "Yes, I learned last year. But can I have it?" He considered it for a moment.  
  
"Is this about the new students?" He asked unexpectedly. I blinked several times. "You certainly have sharpened from your Third year." He said quietly. "But I'm afraid their permission is much more valuable than mine. You'll have to ask them. I'd go with Ryou, he's the least likely to be amazed by your skills. He figured out Sirius was an Animagus at a glance." Once again, I blinked.  
  
"How?" I asked.  
  
"I honestly don't know." He answered simply. I frowned and stalked off to the library. Even if I couldn't get something out of the restricted section, I was sure to find something.  
  
Sure enough, I found what I needed, without that particular book. Turned out, it was somewhat common Egyptian Mythology.  
  
It is said that the eight Millennium Items are hidden and protected in the tomb of the Nameless Pharaoh. Of the seven total, the most powerful is believed to be the Puzzle. It is rumored to give the owner powers beyond belief. If one is to collect all Seven, he will control all the powers of the Pharaoh, as the powers of the ever-rumored Shadow Realm. It is told that one could rule the entire world with such powers.  
  
Of all the mysterious powers of the items, the most peculiar could be the 'Rearranging' powers of the Ankh. This allows the owner to walk through the mind of any being, called a 'Soul Room.' A soul room is decorated with the inner self of the person...  
  
Okay, that was enough for now. I took the book out and ran back to the dormitory. This would be weird. Yugi, with powers beyond belief? What was up with that? It didn't mention anything about an evil spirit either!!  
  
HAHA!! That was my evil version of a cliffhanger!! Yea!!  
  
See the purple button. I COMMAND YOU TO PRESS IT!! Heh he. Cartoon Network is evil. Rurouni Kenshin is only on once a week, and hasn't even gotten to Soujirou's breakdown yet!! Used to, that might be a week. BUT NOW IT'S A WHOLE FREAKIN' MONTH!! We don't even know who Tomoe is supposed to be, us Cartoon-net workers.! Thank goodness for online manga translations.  
  
2410 words 


	9. Maniacal Fluffiness

To Hermione, the matter of the Spirits was a complete mystery. She couldn't confront them with more that she knew. If they were bothering to keep it a secret, she figured it was bound to be important. She couldn't imagine, though, why they would try to keep it in the dark. All she could figure out was that Voldemort was trying to get his hands on Yugi's puzzle. But what did it have to do with Ryou and Malik? As far as she knew, nothing. And what were they always seemed to be whispering about? She could hear them laughing about something. And then there was this one matter that always kept bugging her. Could Yugi really be as powerful as the book said? Little, cute, naïve Yugi?  
  
"Malik? Malik, can I talk to you?" Ryou whispered in the dark. Everyone else had gone to bed, sleeping peacefully, but like so many months before, all Ryou could do was toss and turn in the night. Malik grunted sleepily. "Malik, I really need to talk to you."  
  
"Oh. Ryou." Malik blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes. "What's up.?"  
  
"The ceiling, but that's not what I want to talk about. you have to promise not to tell Yugi or Bakura or anyone, okay?" Malik nodded, puzzled. "Malik. let's say, you thought you were in love with me. and you shared a body with me, so on and so forth. how would you react if I were to. um. ask someone out?" Malik brightened.  
  
"You finally asked Ginny!!"  
  
"Shh!"  
  
"Bakura's in love with you?"  
  
"Shh!!"  
  
"Do you love him?"  
  
"Dammit, Malik, be quiet!!"  
  
"Fine, I'll shut up if you answer me!" He teased. Ryou sighed.  
  
"Yes, perhaps, I don't know. Happy?"  
  
"Hai. Ryou, why don't you want Yugi to know? He'll be happy for you! And he'll be ecstatic to find out if Bakura really has changed. "  
  
"But Yami may take it the wrong way, as famous as he is for that." The teen shifted, and Malik could see the boy's eyes gloss over. "And. Malik, I'm afraid, I really am, if Bakura gets jealous of Ginny or something. I know him at his worst, Malik, I really do. I can't forget." He blinked, and two tears fell down his face.  
  
"Ryou." Malik moved to his bed. "I know." He let him know, offering him his shoulder. "I know."  
  
{Joci: Yeah! Cutesy Malik stuff!!}  
  
"Good morning, Yami. It's only 12:00, gee you're up early." Ryou said cheerily to his Yami.  
  
"I'm alright with it, Ryou." He replied calmly. Ryou raised an eyebrow. "You can't hold a block to the link when you're upset, aibou. There is no need to try to keep secrets from me. I always find out, eventually."  
  
"You mean. Ginny. me. you don't care?" He asked.  
  
"Not particularly. I mean, sure, I'll step in if you ask, say, Anzu to a dance or something. But I think my own hikari would be a bit smarter than that." His dark replied. Ryou laughed and put his arms around his Yami's neck.  
  
"Thank you." He didn't have time to get the words out, as Bakura's lips pressed on his own. Ryou gasped as a gentle tongue slipped into his mouth. Bakura wrapped his own arms around his light as the kiss deepened.  
  
"So I see now." A voice said from behind them. The two quickly separated to see a glaring Malik. "Sure Ryou, go ahead and ask Ginny! I can actually see how you can like her. But Bakura stealing you away too? Forget it." He grabbed his bag and stomped out the door, slamming it behind him.  
  
"Malik!! Wait, Malik!!" Ryou ran after him. Malik turned around and gave him the hardest punch he could manage. He stared at the sputtering teen on the floor.  
  
"Forget about it, Ryou. It's none of my business anyway. Now you've got two other people to cry on!"  
  
"Malik. please."  
  
"Yugi told me you and Malik got in a fight." Ginny mentioned softly in the carriage on the way to Hogsmeade. "What was it about?"  
  
"Just. stuff. he got a little upset at me. I'd rather not talk about it right now, if you don't mind." Ginny frowned.  
  
"You can tell me. I know that you and Malik are really close, I don't get what could rile him up like that at you!!" She lowered her voice. "It wasn't about me, was it?!" Ryou gasped.  
  
"No! Well, not really. I guess. it sort of contributed to it a bit.."  
  
"Then I guess it had to do with Bakura. Those are the only two disagreements I can imagine. He didn't."  
  
"No!! No, Ginny, I've told you, that is all in the past. the truth is. Ginny, please don't be mad. we kind of.. well, we kissed." Ginny gasped.  
  
"Ryou..."  
  
"Please don't be mad! It just sort of happened, I was so happy that he wasn't upset about you and me and I reached out to give him a hug, because, you know, six months ago had I taken you somewhere he would have gotten mad or jealous or something and I was afraid that maybe he still would get jealous.. and well, apparently he was a bit jealous and he just pressed his lips on mine, and I felt so good, and I guess it's partly my fault because I didn't exactly stop it but."  
  
"Ryou, shut up!! Sh, it's okay, just calm down!! We'll talk about this later! Now, I know a place that Sirius used to hide out that we can use to talk. Hermione told me about it over the summer. I'll ask Yugi to get Malik there, and you and him will make up, and you will tell Yugi and Yami that you and Bakura are on the best of terms. Maybe this new relationship will make them see things your way. As far as me. Ryou, I don't care. It's not like we ever said it was exclusive or anything. I knew from the start that Bakura loved you, at least in a brotherly way. This just gives me more fun!" She smiled.  
  
"But.. Yami. Yami is bound to take it wrong! He always does, I can't tell him!! He'll just get mad at Bakura, he'll think I was forced into it or something!!"  
  
"Ryou.. What am I going to do with you!? Listen, Malik's a witness.. But Ryou. what I don't know.. what all exactly did he do to you. go ahead and block the link, I don't want to offend him."  
  
"Ginny, I don't think you really need to know that. I've told you, it's all in the past. All of it. The only thing I'm worried about is the present. " Ryou replied, just about testily.  
  
"Ryou, I do and you know it! I heard you. in the woods. I could hear the fear in your voice, even if I couldn't understand what you were saying!! Ryou, even if you don't tell me, I know I could get it out of Yugi!!" Ginny cried.  
  
"Ginny, you really don't need to know. It's none of your business, and I really don't care to relive it in a carriage with a couple of scaly winged horses hauling us to some magical village. Not only that, but you'd see Bakura differently if you knew! I like people being able to like him, Ginny!! If I told you, I'm afraid you'd hate him.. like everyone else does."  
  
"Listen to me! I'm a fourteen-year-old kid that can't see those thestrals pulling us! I'm incapable of hating anyone but You-Know-Who, and after he possesses you to kill the roosters and lock yourself up in a chamber, and slowly putting my life into himself, it's kind of hard not to!!" She yelled back.  
  
"You're not the only one to have been possessed to kill something, or someone in my case, you most certainly aren't the only one to be locked up in a chamber, which, need I remind you, is in the deepest depths of my mind, and the dark half of my soul has been poured into him! Not to mention, Ginny, that he was able to come out and hurt me physically as well!! You know, very few nights did I get any sleep, no thanks to him!! Very few days weren't lived in fear that tonight, he'd hurt someone else!! And very few hours did I get away from it all!" Ginny could see his eyes watering. The boy looked away from her, and she heard a soft, 'I'm sorry, Bakura.."  
  
{Okay, I would end it here, but what good is a two-page chapter! So.TWO CHAPPIES IN ONE!! Alright, shutting up.}  
  
"Yugi! Yugi, wait up!!" Ginny cried. They were just outside of Honeydukes, and Ginny had been searching for the last thirty minutes to find him. Yugi turned around and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Okay, firstly, Ryou told me. well, a lot of things. About the past, you know. You know that Malik and Ryou aren't getting along right now, and I can't stand the thought of those two fighting. Second, it's time to tell Harry, Ron and Hermione. I know you're thinking 'Are you nuts!!' and my answer would have to be yes, I am, but that's not the point. Hermione's more suspicious than ever and Harry's been onto us for a while now. And third, Ryou and Bakura have officially made up, or out, whichever way you take it. So, you find Malik, I'll find the others, and meet us on the outskirts of town, right past Zonko's Joke Shop, okay?"  
  
"Did somebody drop you on the head or something!! We can't tell Harry!!!" Yugi yelled.  
  
"Tell me what?" Harry had apparently noticed the scene, and came over to see what was going on.  
  
"About Yugi, Ryou, Malik, Yami and Bakura's secret!! Yes, Ryou and Bakura are two different people; and," She turned back to Yugi at this point. "If you aren't there, I'll tell them myself. Harry, you remember where you used to meet Sirius, right? Meet us there, bring Ron and Hermione, and don't mention anything to anyone else. If word gets to a Slytherin, who knows what will happen!!" Little did she know that Draco Malfoy was right nearby, and could hear every word.  
  
"I knew they wouldn't show up, the cowards." Bakura mumbled. The cave was wet and humid, his hikari was using his lap as a pillow, and he obviously wasn't in the best of moods.  
  
"Well, I didn't exactly tell them a time, you know. Look, there's Yugi and Yami right now, they're dragging Malik along with them. Ooh, he doesn't look too happy, Ryou. Trailing behind them, oh, a good four minutes, the other three. and the Kaiba brothers not far after.  
  
"Remind me why I agreed to do this?" Bakura griped.  
  
"Because your hikari told you to. No, no, no!! Let Ryou sleep, he probably hasn't had much lately." She ran her fingers through his hair. "He's so cute when he's sleeping!" She cooed. Bakura glared at her. She just smiled at him. She ran over to where she set down her things and withdrew several Butterbeers. There was a soft fizzle as the girl popped one open and half drained it.  
  
"Good morning Ginny!" A cheery Yugi entered the small cave, followed by a cursing Malik and an exhausted Yami. Ginny waved, Bakura 'hmm' ed, and Ryou stirred slightly. They eventually got Malik situated as the original trio walked in. They took one look around and leaned up against a wall. Yugi smiled.  
  
"Yeah, I figured a little thing like this wouldn't bug you too much. As long as he's not on the back of my head. What do you think, Yami. "  
  
"Well, considering it's not bloody like the last time he saw us." He replied.  
  
"Harry, Ron, Hermione, I want you to meet Yami and Bakura. They are like, the yang to the ying of Yugi and Ryou."  
  
"So, you're comparing us to a baka mortal superstition, are you?" Bakura grunted.  
  
"Wake up Ryou, I have a feeling I may need his help." She pretended she didn't hear him. Bakura glowered at the girl but nonetheless gently shook his hikari.  
  
"Good morning, aibou." He whispered, his eyes softening at the sight of the sleeping angel.  
  
"hnn. morning, Yami." Ryou sat up only to bury his face in his dark's hair. Ginny turned to the others apologetically.  
  
"He hasn't gotten a whole lot of sleep apparently. That, and all this switching in and out of bodies can really take a toll on a person. Are you sure he doesn't need to sleep in his soul room, Bakura? He is wasting a lot of his energy just by being out here."  
  
"Hey, hey, wait a minute. explain first, then sleep!!!" Hermione interrupted. Ryou sat up and yawned.  
  
"Yami over there was a pharaoh, Malik's Yami was an assassin and 'Kura is the tomb robber. You're smart, put the rest of the pieces together, you know the story. oh, and Seto was a priest, but he doesn't have a Yami.." He fell back into his dark's lap.  
  
"Guess that's what I get for running around the school at two in the morning. " Bakura muttered.  
  
"No, it's the spirit that takes over his body every once in a while." Harry repeated. "So everything you said, the spirits, is true? Well, that makes things easier on me!!" He slid down the wall. "The dementors, the hair dying incident, the Arabic, that necklace thing in your bag." The boy counted it off on his fingers.  
  
"Ishtar leaving suddenly." Ron added.  
  
"Well, now that that's taken care of!!" Ginny clapped her hands together. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still in somewhat of a state of shock. "Malik!! You realize that Ryou's a package deal! His Yami loves him, he loves his Yami, basically, he just loves himself, so deal with it! Ryou, I know, likes you, I stole his diary, yes, he keeps a diary, Bakura, the one thing you didn't know about, and he is always talking about how great-- "  
  
Harry shook his head. His world got crazier by the moment.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sorry this update took forever guys. School is evil. Especially Life Science. Why isn't that an elective? It really should be an elective, I could care less about whatever a 'anti-plasmic curriculum' is. Ryou: 'Endoplasmic Reticulum, dummy. Me: Like I said, I could care less. Bakura: Just wait till chapter sixteen. Me: ACK!!!! I don't want to learn about THAT with a bunch of immature guys running around!!! Oh guys, meet my Yami, Kitty, and my hikari, Squeaky!! Ginny: A Yami. and a hikari. Me: Yup!! ^__^ More like those little cartoon guys on your shoulder. Kitty: Lucky us, we have Coach Rosatelli!! Squeaky: Ha ha. you have to put up with Haile!! Me: }:, Anyway, as I was saying before my two BFF showed up and RUDELY interrupted, I'll try to update sooner next time. And for the person who asked me personally, and to anyone else who wants to know, I write SHONEN- AI, not yaoi. The difference? Yaoi normally contains citrus, of which I am mentally incapable of writing. Kay? And as for you, you cricket-killer you (you know who you are!!) NONONONONONONOOOOO!!! Hiei/Shiori is just plain FREAKY!!! But you do have a point with Kurama/Kuronue. I'll see what I can do. Long as you don't mind a little bit of Hiei/Kurama, too.  
  
POLL!!!!! #1  
  
Where do you think this Ryou/Ginny stuff should go!! I want to include Malik and Bakura, but I can see where that could be a problem. Let me know what YOU think!!  
  
POLL!!!!! #2  
  
Should I do the Sirius deal at the end? And.  
  
POLL!!!!! #3  
  
I'm wanna write a YYH/YGO x-over!!! YYH fans, any ideas? Or Mei Kui Huã info? Either would be lovely. Both would be fantastic!! 


	10. Finishing With the Shock

"Yah, I know." Yami scooted down beside Harry. "I get to deal with it every day. Of course by now, Anzu would have intervened with some lame friendship speech. I guess they work though. We do settle our differences, if only to send her to the shadow realm. One time we did. but Bakura got mad because his Man-Eater-Bug threatened to go vegetarian if she stayed. So we brought her back." He smiled.  
  
"I swear, she's not human!" Yugi dropped in. "I got tired of being the peacemaker! That's Ryou's job anyway, it's his Yami." He explained after a questioning glance from his own.  
  
"So you're leaving it to me." He stated.  
  
"Basically."  
  
"Why would I do that?"  
  
"Cause you know one more glance this direction, I'll put on my puppy face and you won't be able to resist." Yugi chibi-smiled. Yami stuck his tongue out and went to clear things up.  
  
"STAY OUT OF THIS, PHARAOH!!!!" Malik and Bakura yelled at the same time, leaving Ginny in a tight spot to keep them from killing one another. Yami, on the other hand, held up his hands and tried to keep a straight face as he walked back.  
  
"Listen, Harry, I know this wasn't a very thorough explanation-  
  
CRASH!!  
  
-but you have nothing to worry about. What am I saying. Okay, you have tons to worry about, but listen, that's sort of why we're here, I guess. History tends to repeat itself, just with different twists and-  
  
BANG!! BANG! BAM!!  
  
-Keep it down, you two!! Anyway, long story short, like every psychopath we've come across before-"  
  
"Minus Anzu." Yami added.  
  
"Minus Anzu," Yugi agreed. "Voldemort's after the Millennium Puzzle." He held it up. "So far, it's been stolen seven times, plus seventeen attempts, plus an almost-had-it sort of thing with Bakura. Malik had a hold of it a few times, and Bakura tried to put part of his soul into it. Well, I can't really say Malik had a hold of it, it was his Yami, Marik. There is a big difference, it's like trying to incriminate Ryou for murder." Harry only blinked a few times. Yugi smiled sympathetically.  
  
"I guess it was easier with my friends because they found out shortly after I did. Especially when YAMI tried to KILL SETO!!!" Yami blushed slightly.  
  
"Well, he was willing."  
  
"GIVE ME BACK MY ROD TOMB ROBBER!!!"  
  
"YOU PROMISED I COULD HAVE IT!!!!!"  
  
"I DID NOT!!! I DIDN'T GET WHAT I WANTED SO YOU CAN'T GET WHAT YOU WANT!!!!"  
  
"TOO BAD!! IT'S MINE NOW!!!"  
  
Yugi sighed. "I'll go wake up Ryou. He's the only one with any control over Bakura."  
  
"He has no control of his Yami and you know it!" Yami continued to insist. "Where do you think all those bruises all over his arm came from!!" Harry, Ron, and Hermione's head whipped up.  
  
"What do you mean bruises?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Oh you know, those late night 'accidents' Ryou insists on making up." Yami crossed his arms and legs. Yugi scowled at his dark.  
  
"You're never going to give up, are you Yami!! Ra knows we're all tired of it!! Those bruises are accidents, results of clumsiness!! If anything, Bakura forgot about Quidditch practice and left Ryou to keep!!" Yugi cried.  
  
Ron blinked a few times. "Is there something you're not telling us?"  
  
Yami nodded. "Bakura over there is an abusive kusoyaro and has brainwashed Ryou into thinking they are acts of love!!" He declared.  
  
"Yami!!! He USED to be an abusive kusoyaro, and Ryou has only been brainwashed by Malik!! If you haven't noticed, dear Yami of mine, they have both changed!! I saw Ryou kiss Bakura just the other day, and it certainly wasn't forced on Bakura's part." He bonked his Yami on the head with his fist. "You guys don't need to worry about Bakura, he never hurts anyone anymore. Well, he may hurt your feelings with his incredible comebacks and ridicules, but other than that, he wouldn't hurt a fly."  
  
"Liar." Yami murmured.  
  
"Better me than the almighty pharaoh! Just shut up, that's an order!" Yugi commanded. Yami just grimaced and walked away. "I guess I need to explain. A while ago, Malik thought that I was the cause of his suffering. The death of his father and such, you know. At that point there was a big misunderstanding about the Yami situation. It took a while to get it straightened out, and I don't think we saw very much of the real Ryou or the real Malik. Only influences from the darker parts of their mind. Anyway, Bakura got into my puzzle somehow once Marik sent him to the shadow realm, after stealing Malik's body. It was a huge mess."  
  
The three of the blinked simultaneously. Eventually, Hermione spoke up. "So. who's Marik?"  
  
"Malik's dark. He's crazy, so don't piss Malik off. I'm trying to convince Yami to check on him. Malik hasn't been feeling whole without him lately. I know what it's like, the first time I really dueled without my Yami, I freaked."  
  
"I guess I understand." Harry said slowly. "From what I'm getting, you have all innocence. no dark or hateful thoughts, right?" Yugi nodded. "Imagine not being able to hate Voldemort."  
  
"Not even Ryou could ever hate Bakura, as much as it seemed Bakura hated him. Before you asked, I'll tell you right now I don't even wanna talk about it." He shook his head. "Nope, no way, uh-uh! One more thing. you CANNOT tell anyone, Yami's ready to kill. Even the good Yami gets bloodthirsty once in a while, and he's looking for reasons to send someone to the Shadow Realm. I have to lock him in his soul room to keep him from Snape." Yugi smiled a little chibi smile and got up. "Come on, Ryou. It'd be best to avoid trouble in your condition. You shouldn't let Bakura wander so late in your body." With minimal effort that was amazing for his size, Yugi heaved his friend onto his shoulder. Harry and Ron rushed over when they saw Ryou's knees dragging.  
  
"Here, we got him!" The two said quickly, and hoisted the albino up.  
  
"Oh forget it, take the stupid thing back!!!" They turned in time to see Bakura sharply throw the rod, dagger side out. Malik expertly dodged it and wrenched it out of the wall. Bakura death glared, and disappeared to take over Ryou's body.  
  
"Let's go!" He said, much like a four-year-old whose parents were taking too long to pack to go to Grandma's. He walked out, obviously ticked.  
  
"And the winner is Malik." Ginny said dully.  
  
Gomen! Gomen! Gomen! Gomen! Gomen! Gomen! Gomen! Sorry this took so long yet was so short! YYH/YGO: Come on people!! I need something!! Inspiration is in short supply. All I got is Shiori taking Ryou in to keep his dad out of trouble! Not much to go on!!! Sirius: EQUAL VOTES!! NYACK!!! Ginny: Ginny out!! 


	11. Seto's Birthday Present

T + hankies!!! I looove the ideas peoples!! Heather said that Sherri said that Traci said that Paige said. Ryou: Shut up. On with the show. Dizzy: It's a secret!!  
  
Bakura made sure no one remembered a thing. Not even Ginny. That Hogsmeade weekend never happened. Harry Ron, and Hermione were back at square one. And that was where Bakura was comfortable with their being. Weeks had passed without anything tremendous happening.  
  
In fact, it was the day before Halloween. Seto Kaiba's birthday. (I dunno when it is so deal with it.) And Seto Kaiba woke up to a big surprise.  
  
"KATSUYA JOUNOUCHI!!!! WHAT ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH ARE YOU DOING HERE!!!!"  
  
Naturally, that awoke everyone with a start. Jounouchi flipped his hair back casually.  
  
"I dunno." Was the reply. The honey-eyed teen sat up on the floor and took in his surroundings. Mokuba, Yugi, Yami, Seto and Jou turned to face the giggling pair behind them.  
  
"I imagine that's why." Malik said. Ryou looked like he was about to burst with laughter.  
  
"All I can feel from him are floods of embarrassment. I think he actually did something nice for your birthday Seto. And no oriental rugs involved!!!" He laughed into Malik's shoulder and pulled the blond outside with him.  
  
Yami sighed, "I guess we'll have to take you to the headmaster. Borrow some of Malik's clothes, he might mind but it doesn't matter. Get dressed and Seto will take you down to great hall. Come on, Yugi." The two merged and walked away.  
  
"Ryou knows about the oriental rugs?"  
  
"Ryou, what's the matter?" Ginny asked. Ryou's face was a bright red, and it looked as though he had been crying. Instead, he started to burst out laughing.  
  
"You know Seto. well, it's his birthday and let's just say he got a rather unexpected surprise!!!" He started another cycle of uncontrollable laughter.  
  
"Ryou, really, are you sure it was him?" Malik inquired.  
  
"No, but I ain't about to ask!!!"  
  
"Uh. He stole my clothes!" Malik cried indignantly.  
  
"Probably Yami's idea. Deal with it. 'Sides, you would have done the same. Come on, let's follow them, it might be interesting." Ryou gave him a mischievous copyrighted Bakura grin.  
  
"Um, no. Yami alert, Yami alert."  
  
"What is it with you and Yami, the two of us get along fine." Ryou told him.  
  
"You're the innocent hikari." Malik feebly tried to contradict him.  
  
"And you're the guilty one? Come on, let's go!"  
  
"Follow them." Said Hermione softly to Harry. She had listened into every word, and was even more suspicious than ever. Harry rolled his eyes. This was all she gone on about, how strange these three were.  
  
"Herm, I doubt I'll find anything out. Hey, who's that, following Yugi?"  
  
"That's exactly what I'm talking about! We have some of the best security here, and unless he could get in through the Shrieking Shack like Sirius, there is no other way in! No, Harry, Honeydukes knows better than to let just anyone in the back."  
  
"But," Harry protested, "They could have been really busy!"  
  
"Honestly, Harry, how many people actually know about that secret passage way. They'd need the Marauders Map; and-" She was cut off.  
  
"The map! Come with me!" He said excitedly, grabbing Hermione on the arm and motioning Ron with a slice of buttered toast. He sprinted all the way to the common room, up the stairs, past the first-fourth year bedrooms, and paused at his own. Everything was in the exact spot he left it. Pajamas slung over the bedpost, trunk half open, socks slung across to Neville's side of the room. He opened up his trunk all the way. Robes, dress robes, random books scattered everywhere. There! Carefully, he took out his father's old invisibility cloak, and unfolded it.  
  
"It's gone."  
  
ACK!! Its short and took forever!! Gomen gomen gomen gomen gomen gomen *goes on forever* 


	12. So What about Jounouchi?

PZANNA!! Did you get my e-mail/ review thing? If you have, I skooched you up a chapter. ^-^ Sorry!!!  
  
Anyway, I changed my screen name, yea for me. I love Foleys. Don't you? Wet Seal too!! I'm hyper on clothing sales!!!!!!  
  
Kurama: Now that we have that interesting tidbit of information. Ryou: We're gonna run away, on account of lime green bellbottoms. Dizzy: I got shoes to match!!! Kenshin: Orororororooo. Dizzy: Oh Yami. It's time to model for me. !!!! ^_^!!! Everyone: AIP!!!!!!!!  
  
Chapter 12: What about Jou, now?  
  
"Okay, does someone mind tellin' me what the heck's going on around this freaky place!!!" Jounouchi jumped as Sir Cadogen challenged him to a fight.  
  
"It's Hogwarts," Yami explained, "It's where we've disappeared to for the last three months, learning magic and stuff. Sounds crazy, but so is the idea of Kaiba being here." Kaiba glared at him.  
  
"Ah, so you're giving a not-so-brief summary of the happenings here, Yami? Yeah, well, in a nutshell, you need to listen to both sides. Oh, and nobody knows but us and some of the teachers, so it's Ryou and Yugi, forget Yami and me exist. Hopefully we won't have to worry about Malik and Marik mix-ups, but then again, that might not be such a bad thing if he's not like, Pharaoh-evil." He glanced at his watch. "Hikari will be late for potions if he doesn't hurry. But I can't afford to put in a good word for him, so we have to go."  
  
"Sorry, Ry, you're not going anywhere." Jou said as Ryou returned. He scooped then rather light teen over his shoulder and continued following Seto. "Sorta need you to sort out the kinks and all that."  
  
"But I can't miss potions, let me down, you don't know Snape, I swear I'll steal Malik's item and take over your mind, I don't want detention, drop me now you slimy insolent mean-" He started kicking and pounding on Jou's back.  
  
"Anyone ever told you ya hit like a girl, Ryou?" Jou laughed.  
  
"I mean it Katsuya Jounouchi, if you don't put me down this instant I'll make sure you pay one way or another, you should know that Bakura's door isn't locked anymore, I could use those thieving techniques he keeps in his Soul-room, or maybe learn some chant that'll lock you in one of those chamber's in Yami's, or bring Dark Necrophia to life, I already know that one, you are so lucky that Bakura keeps his new knife he stole away from me, he thinks I don't know, but in reality I don't care, but now I do cause I want it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"Never knew Ryou had that much air in him," Malik tousled his hair. Ryou tried to grab his, but his uncomfortable position and the way Malik ducked didn't allow him to.  
  
"Hermione, you do realize we're missing potions?" Ron asked.  
  
"Shut up, this is more important! Besides, where else could the map have gone?" Hermione shushed him. "What's a Dark Necrophia, and why is Bakura referring to himself in third person, and who is Yami?"  
  
"A Dark Necrophia is something freaky, Bakura's either egotistic or crazy, and Yami's Yugi's nickname. Happy? Let's go!" Harry whined.  
  
"Something is going on Harry, the map is gone!!!!" Hermione hissed.  
  
"Something they obviously don't want us to know about, 'Mione. Since when did You-know-who recruit crazy 15-year-old boys?" Hermione shot Ron a look as though to say 'Er, Duh!!'  
  
"You do know that Yami means 'darkness' in Japanese. Why would darkness be a nickname for someone like Yugi?" Hermione asked them. One look at the rather pissed looking 'Yugi' seemed to tell them why, but they had seen Yugi angry. This Yugi was. cold, cruel looking. It seemed as though a glare from him could knock you dead. "And it's a real name!! Everything but names are translated to English once you're inside Hogwarts." She smacked Ron upside the head. Harry noticed she did nothing to him.  
  
"Jounouchi, I swear I'll tell Seto 'bout that vanilla pudding dream if you don't put me down!!!!"  
  
"What, the one with the monkeys? Yeah, I bet ya he already knows, ya know, those fancy security cameras on the blimp. What I wanna know is how you know? You were dead out then!"  
  
"Er. security cameras!!!"  
  
"Right."  
  
"I mean it Jou, put me down or death to the little Jou-Swordsman!!" Somehow, Ryou had gotten a hold of a card and looked as though he were going to rip it.  
  
"Ya would have done that a long time ago if ya had the guts."  
  
"What's more, Ryou, that's a Baby Dragon, not a Flame Swordsman. You really need to duel on your own some more, kid, if you can't tell those two apart."  
  
"I can too!! I just grabbed the first card I could reach and hoped he'd fall for it. *insert droopy face*. You ruin everything Malik, I know where you live!!!"  
  
"No you don't. You've been to Cairo with me one time, and for all you know we've gone home since then."  
  
"Except for the fact that it's a hole in the ground that you've cursed with every god and goddess you know of, and have swore never set foot on to the day you die, and not after that either."  
  
"Say hi to my dad, please, when you reach the Shadow Realm." Malik threatened.  
  
"Ooh, I'm scared, would wittle Mawik dare send moi to the bad pace!!"  
  
"See!" Hermione pointed at them. "Who would send their dad to a place with a name like the shadow realm!!"  
  
"The same guy who cursed his hole-in-the-ground with every god and goddess he knows of and swore not to set foot on to the day he dies, and not after that either." Ron said. "Might as well skip potions now!! No chance of getting a worse punishment than we've already got. Fifteen minutes late."  
  
"Hermione, it's not right to spy on people like this!!" Harry protested.  
  
"What if they took the map, Harry? How do you know that one of them is using it for all the wrong reasons!!!"  
  
"Herm, he's my cousin." This was Harry's last defense.  
  
"So is Dudley." It was settled.  
  
^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_ ^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^  
  
Are they smiley faces or face-faulted birds? Ryou: No!! No!! Will Jou ever let go of me!! Dizzy: Do we really care!!! Jou plushies today!!! Jou plushies today!!! *Mass line forms* After you press that pretty purplish pinkish button that says go and review my wonderful work!!  
  
Kurama: Wonderful? Dizzy: *bops him. Hard.* Kurama: WONDERFUL!!!!!! Dizzy: Review, as though your life depends on whether or not your words please me (or burn, I don't care, fire is fun!!). Kenshin: You stole that!!!! Dizzy: NO!!! The sponge is clearly green!!!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pzanna, if you didn't get the last review I sent you, hopefully you bother to read this. 100!100!100!100!100!100!100!100!100!100! Your prizes: Gazillion Random Plushies 3 wishes (that won't come true. not by me, anyhow.) THE CHANCE TO WRITE CHAPPIE 13!!! Email me, kay? (josie_kt@hotmail.com) 


	13. The Truth

"Are you ever even going to consider putting me down?" Ryou halfheartedly whined.  
  
"Ryou, we know you better than you think. You ain't gonna miss a class unless someone's dragging ya away!" Jou retorted.  
  
"That, and you look astonishingly cute all pathetic like that!" Malik teased as he ruffled his hair. Ryou gave him his best ant soldier death glare. If there were any microscopic organisms running around, they scattered off like scared microorganisms. Hence the ant soldier.  
  
"You know, this is kind of overdoing it, isn't it? This is something someone like mou hitori no boku would do!!!" Ryou cried. He fell over backwards as Jou let go of him.  
  
"Don't you dare compare me to the likes of him, you hear me Bakura!!!" Jounouchi yelled. Jou immediately seemed to regret it as Ryou's wide eyes began to tear.  
  
"Oh, god, Ryou. Don't take it like that, I didn't mean it that way-"  
  
"All this time! He hasn't done anything for the longest time and none of you trust him!! I can't believe you guys!!!" He cried, and sprinted away. Malik looked one way at the group, and turned towards Ryou's direction. He took another glance at Jou in particular before following.  
  
"Oh my god..." Hermione whispered. "Mou hitori no boku... my other self... what does it mean?"  
  
"That Harry's cousin is a schizoid?" Ron suggested. Harry shot a look at him.  
  
"It has something to do with those gold necklace things, and Malik's little gold bat thing." She continued, seemingly oblivious to Harry and Ron.  
  
"Little gold bat thing?" The two asked at the same time.  
  
"You mean you haven't seen it? It's sorta like a wand, only much thicker, and gold. Not cheap paint gold, the real thing. On the tip is the Eye of Horus, with little bat-like wings. It's actually really cool. And obviously special to him, the way he takes it everywhere he goes. Yugi has that little Upside-Down Pyramid, and Bakura with the ring and the spikes, although he tries to keep it pretty much hidden. Yugi's the only one that really displays his. They're a part of a set, you can tell." She explained. They returned their attention to Ryou, whose frame was visible down in a classroom pretty close to them.  
  
"Don't cry hikari! It makes you look weak!" A voice like Ryou's ordered, only deeper, full of anger, and darker.  
  
"I'm not crying! I'm just angry, that's all! Dang it, Jou, why'd ya hafta say that!!" A voice that was definitely Ryou's answered.  
  
"You realize he can't hear you?" The dark voice inquired.  
  
"You see this wall, Yami? I am talking to it. I am ignoring you." Ryou retorted. "Lovely weather, isn't it? I imagine it's rather chilly for you, though, since you can't really come inside."  
  
"Talking to the walls could be dangerous in this place, hikari."  
  
"And all those windows of yours must be freezing! But I guess that's what curtains are for, aren't they?"  
  
"Ask him if he's read the newspaper. Did he get 13 down on the crossword? It's a five letter word for treasure."  
  
"Maybe they should put curtains on the outside. You know, a tomb robber of all people should know a five-letter word for treasure. I mean, certainly there's a hieroglyphic for that!! You'd think after five thousand years of contemplating he'd figure that one out. I guess they didn't have crosswords when he was young." Silence. "Oh, you're almost as old as him? You wanna be my new Yami?"  
  
"Hikari..."  
  
"Oh. That's too bad; I could use a new one. The one I've got is a bloody pain." They saw Malik going inside.  
  
"You think yours a pain? Ryou, you really need to learn the Yami scale. Yugi's is obviously a one, who wouldn't want a pharaoh? Yours is probably a nine-point-nine, but Marik is no doubt a ten."  
  
"Yeah, but you don't have to put up with Marik. He's locked up, and as long as you keep your head on straight. I don't have a choice. I do something stupid, and he's always there criticizing me. You break a couple jars in a fit of anger and you can at least attempt to hide it before Isis comes back. And Yugi never does anything stupid." He answered.  
  
"Baka goody-two-shoes. Come on, Ryou; don't get mad like this, at least not with your Yami sulking. I say we banish him to the shadow realm to find all your CD's and those microwaves. Then you'll have time to whine about everything all you want. And we'll have Christmas gifts. What do you say? I got the means if you got the will."  
  
"Can we send Jou to find my computer?"  
  
"Sorry, he tends to freak a bit when that happens. But we can try the Pharaoh. I'm sure the game shop could use a few free vending machines and TV I've seen in his part of the realm. And it's littered with all sorts of sparkly stuff that Nightshade would love."  
  
"Malik, you're an idiot."  
  
"Ryou, you're a clown."  
  
"You're not Otogi, you can't say that!" Malik laughed and nodded at Bakura. He got the message and walked out, grabbing Yami once he caught up.  
  
"Come on, pharaoh, I'm doing this for Ryou. Split, so we can go!" Bakura ordered.  
  
"What are you talking about, tomb robber!!"  
  
"We are going to leave so Ryou can have a relatively sane weekend. And to get all the stuff we sent to the shadow realm, for some baka mortal holiday they insist on celebrating. Prissy Miss or something. Let's go, now before I drag Yugi with you!!"  
  
"Fine, fine, I'm going! Bye, Yugi, I'll try not to kill him!" A purple mist enshrouded them and they disappeared.  
  
"Wicked cool!" Ron whispered.  
  
"How much have you seen?" A voice behind them asked. The three whirled around, but the voice was hidden.  
  
"Everything." Harry didn't know why, but whatever this 'thing' was, it wouldn't tolerate a lie.  
  
"I see. You must tell them you know. If you don't tell them, and they find out, the Yamis will be back soon. Master Bakura does not want you to know at all. Lord Yami will overpower him and consent your knowledge. But mark my words. If you speak a word of this, you *will* die. Whether it is our hands that are bloodied or Master Bakura's by your fate does not matter. Trust no one in this matter. This is your fair warning. Leave, now."  
  
The three nodded. Harry looked around quick, tapped a statue three times and climbed inside the opening it created, the others following. He tapped it again to close it and lit his wand to see exactly where he was. This passageway went... straight to Dumbledore's office. He didn't even need the map to know that now. That was odd.  
  
"Alright then. To Dumbledore's office, then, I suppose. Follow me."  
  
"You ready to go, Ry? We'll trail behind as long as you don't make a break for it. In that case, I'll have to take Jou's position of your self- appointed keeper." Malik dragged Ryou behind himself.  
  
"I didn't say bye to the wall!" He complained.  
  
"All the walls are connected, they'll pass it on. Come on, we can't lose sight of them. I know this place as well as Jou does."  
  
"And you're supposed to be guarding a high security tomb. Poor senseless Malik. You would starve in a day."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
Harry knocked on the hidden door. He could hear shifting around inside. Then the door opened.  
  
"Why, hello Harry. I believe this is the second time this year that you have come to visit me."  
  
"It is?" The three asked at the same time.  
  
"Oh, my mistake. I believe that might have been last year. Do come in. Would you three like some tea?"  
  
"No, thank you." The three answered at once.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore, what's a Yami?" Harry blurted out. Hermione sighed.  
  
"I already told you, Harry, it's Japanese for Darkness. In the context, I'm assuming it means the 'dark side' of a person." Hermione told him, exasperated.  
  
"I couldn't have said it better. Kindly sit do-"  
  
At exactly that time, the door to his office fell through, revealing a brunette, two blondes, and albino, a multicolor, and a raven-haired boy laying crumpled at the doorstep.  
  
"Uh... hi Professor. Hi, Harry, Ron, Hermione!" Mokuba was the first to stand and speak.  
  
"Mm-hmm, we've got ourselves a bit of a problem. And it's not very, uh- hmm, trivial. Although somewhat funny if you think about it." Malik added as everyone else got themselves up.  
  
"I'm laughing so hard." Jou told him sarcastically.  
  
"Meet our problem, Professor." 


	14. More Ryou Blowups

"Professor, meet our problem."  
  
"Hello to you as well!" Dumbledore said, his eyes glittering. "We were just discussing you. Pull up a chair."  
  
"Oh, I imagine you were. Yami sent the Dark Magician to find out who was spying on us. I don't guess it was too big of a problem, if he didn't report back to me as well." Yugi said in a cheerful tone. "Although I guess it was a bad time to send them off, with you finding out and everything. But I do need some of those CD's back; some were borrowed. "He laughed.  
  
"I don't know about you, Yugi, but I needed a sane Yami-free week. And then I need to send him home to pretend to be me for Christmas... and to make up a lie about why I wasn't home on my birthday either, although I should see if Otogi covered for me. My dad's a diabolical magic-hater." Ryou explained quickly. "Doesn't make sense that he's an archeologist if he hates magic so much."  
  
"Nah, just shows how different related people can be." For some reason, they all busted out laughing, Harry, Ron and Hermione with blank looks on their faces.  
  
"It's nothing..." Malik said. "Sort of a joke between us..."  
  
.................................................................................................. ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ........................... "Dang it, I should've known. Isis and Rishid are on their way because we sent off the Yamis." Malik cursed. Sure enough, the cord on Ryou's ring snapped as the ring headed into the fireplace, stopping at the first flame as Malik's siblings stepped out of the flares. Ryou rolled his eyes as he got up to get it.  
  
"Maybe the yamis are gone, but I'm so not feeling sane." He muttered. "Hi Isis, hi Rishid!" He greeted. "Nice to see you, despite the occasion." Everyone else nodded at their past teacher.  
  
"Good... morning, I think!" Isis chirped.  
  
"Yup, morning. Isis, Rishid, you can leave, because we're the ones who sent off Bakura and Yami." Malik told them. "Mainly for sanity reasons. You understand, right?" Rishid's eyes went wide.  
  
"You sent them off!! You idiot, Malik, what have you done!!! Yami and Bakura, together, in the shadow realm, what the heck were you thinking!!!" He spouted. "You might as well tear it down, because that's basically what's gonna happen! Why don't you throw Priest Seth and the assassin in there as well!"  
  
Seto cleared his throat.  
  
"Get over it!" Malik spat.  
  
"Gee, well put, Malik." Ryou said sarcastically. "Malik didn't send them off... well, he did, but I told him to. Anyway, you can rest assured that if the Shadow Realm gets blown up, Yami and Bakura will be very thoroughly chewed out, because along with those monsters that I care about, my entire CD collection goes too!!! Not to mention several microwaves and a TV, plus whatever Yami stashed in there to hide from me or someone else!!" He casually brushed his hair out of his face. "I think I'd best leave..." He sort of half-murmured as he got up.  
  
"Uh-uh, Ryou, we have to put up with this, so do you." Yugi said as he tried to guide his friend back to his chair.  
  
"Why should I?" Ryou snapped. "I didn't ask for a Sennen Item, or to share my soul with a kusoyaro like Bakura, or for any of this stupid stuff! I didn't want it, but I got it! Please, just leave me alone!!" He rushed out the door they had come in.  
  
Harry asked, "What in the world was that all about?"  
  
Yugi sighed. "Ryou's going through a tough time. He's been spending a lot of time at night shuffling through his soul-chamber, sifting through all his memories. He's reevaluating his friends and enemies, trying to figure out who he can trust. Yami, Malik, Bakura and I probably aren't high on his list, thanks to a bit of the past."  
  
Malik cast his eyes down, "It's a bit complicated. Ryou seems to be a worldwide victim, first for Bakura, then me, then Bakura and me... He had two voices running around in his head, and neither one of them had the decency to be his guardian angel! I'm surprised he hasn't already cast us aside, after what we did... Ryou Bakura has every reason in this world to hate me."  
  
Ron, Harry and Hermione couldn't think of what to say. Hermione was the first to regain her words.  
  
"But... what did you do? How could you speak to him inside his head?!"  
  
Malik didn't say anything.  
  
"Oh, fine!" Jou said. "Malik over here's got the power of mind control. His little ax thing lets him go into people's mind and sort of can sort of put a shield in front of the real you while he's on the outside. He couldn't do it quite right to Ryou, though, 'cause he already has two souls and an Sennen Item that can kick butt too. So he only got Ryou, not Bakura, but 'cause Ryou is a part of Bakura, Bakura had to sort of listen to him too, but had control over the actual body and stuff. Malik did it for the God Cards, and Bakura did it for the Sennen Items."  
  
"Right, both trying and failing miserably to take over the world. "Yugi nodded.  
  
"Hey, they weren't miserable! Just because blimps and God Cards don't mix doesn't make an attempt to claim my family's title to all powerful Pharaoh any less valiant! And Bakura had more Sennen Items than you did at the time!" Malik defended.  
  
"Uh. Huh. Huh." Harry raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Yes, alright, okay, I'm a bit psycho, I've already been told!"  
  
Sorry! Ack, this took way too long! 


	15. 15, in which you don't learn how Jounouc...

"Yeah, if a bit describes insanity beyond the capacity of all the mental hospitals in Japan." Seto rolled his eyes.  
  
"Right. Well, anyway, I should go find Ryou," Malik sighed, "Before he blows something up..." He ran upstairs.  
  
There was a murmur of agreement as Isis, Rishid, and Mokuba followed him.  
  
"We would explain more..." Yugi began, "but we can't. Sorry." With that, he and Seto swept up the stairs.  
  
******Ryou's POV******  
What the heck is wrong with me?! I trust those two with my life, what's going on that I just...try to get away from them? What am I afraid of?  
  
{~}~{~}~{~}~{Flashback}~{~}~{~}~{~}  
/Please, just leave me alone!!/ //Rather hard for me to leave something so beautiful alone... especially when it's mine!!//  
  
"Who... who are you!!?!!" "You should know... you belong to me now!!" {~}~{~}~{~}~{~}~{~}~{~}~{~}~{~}~{~}  
  
Is... is that why? No! No, they're changed now, it's different! They care about me!!!  
  
``Are you sure?``  
  
Oh, so my Yami isn't here and I'm making up new voices! Yes, I'm sure! I'm positive, they'd never hurt me!!  
  
``Then why did they hurt you before?``  
  
You're not my Yami. Go away.  
  
``You're normal now. You have to have another questioning voice.``  
  
I don't *want* another questioning voice. I wanna be alone.  
  
``You are alone. I'm just alone with you.``  
  
Go be alone with someone else!  
  
``I can't.``  
  
You're evil. I don't like you. Go away, you dislikable evil questioning voice!  
  
$Do you like this voice better?$  
  
No. Now you sound like a girl. Girls don't belong in *my* head.  
  
``Then you're stuck with me. I'm not a ventriloquist, you know.``  
  
Be quiet. I'm trying to think.  
  
``Then think.``  
  
I can't!!  
  
Thankfully, Malik brought me back to the real world.  
  
"Hey, Ryou." He said.  
  
"Hi. What's up?" I replied, even though I knew perfectly well what was up.  
  
"The ceiling. Have you made friends with it yet?" He laughed and sat down on the bed.  
  
"The floor, which is the ceiling downstairs. I guess it counts." Malik put an arm around me, ruffling my hair. He smells good, like the beach. I guess the desert is a beach, sort of... there's a lot of hot sand and palm trees, even if the tree part is only your imagination. "I'm sorry I..." I started to apologize, but Malik waved it off.  
  
"Hey, no big deal. Besides, you were right, you didn't ask for any of this, you just sort of... got it." He told me.  
  
"But... so did you, so my apology still stands." I defended. I was in a rather argumentative mood.  
  
He sighed, "Yeah, right again. Have to tell Bakura, I think he's got a mental scoreboard." This time I laughed. "I imagine he's proud of his hikari, beating the assassin at his own arguments. And in a smarter sounding way than him, just think!"  
  
I smiled up at him, "He better be, I can occasionally beat the master himself. Unless it's about Yami, and then he's just a stubborn ass. I never knew that the fact that Yami Yugi won every duel against us could be used against him."  
  
"Oh, you bet. But I won't get into that right now." He told me. "I wanna know what's going on. I understand... some, but other stuff... well, you know." He cast his eyes down, and I put my arms around his waist, burying my face in his chest.  
  
"Malik... it's a long story. I just need a little time to sort things out, I guess. I mean, you were never exactly normal, so I don't know if it was as scary for you as it was for me or if you knew what was going on, but I had no clue! I couldn't remember anything my Yami did, I would wake up with blood in my mouth and no idea where I was... and the bodies... the people, they looked so horrified in death, and the only person it could have been was me... It was terrifying, Malik...I didn't know what was wrong...." He stroked my hair as though I were some cat of his and muttered nonsense to calm me down. "And then we met, one time... I don't know how, it was the first time I had summoned my soul room. And it seems weird but I really was... empty inside. There was nothing. Just white stretching forever and ever. He appeared, like this evil twin I didn't know I had.... God, I sound so melodramatic, don't I?" Malik laughed softly.  
  
"Melodramatic? Yeah, I guess. But I know how you feel, and I don't envy you, little baka. I killed my dad, you think I wasn't freaked? Don't worry about it. It's all good now. Try not to dwell on the past." He said. "Who sounds sentimental now?" He got up and kissed the top of my head. "See ya."  
  
``Ah, isn't that sweet!``  
  
Shut up.  
  
``Never!! Never never never never never never!!!``  
  
Ignoring you. Going to sleep.  
  
``Uh-uh.``  
  
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
******Normal POV******  
  
"He gonna be alright?" Yugi asked.  
  
"He's going to be fine. Give him some time." Malik replied, looking through the doorway at the shadow of Ryou fondly.  
  
Yugi sighed. "He's a mess. He really didn't deserve any of this."  
  
"No," Malik agreed. "He didn't. It was just fate, just baka fate screwing with him."  
  
"Anata wa daijoubu desu ka?" (are you alright?)  
  
"Hai, daijoubu desu." He answered. (I'm alright.)  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yeah, this is taking way too long. WAY TOO LONG!!! And the chappies are short. Baka Dizzy. Kurama: Yes, Baka Dizzy. Dizzy: Shut up. The translations are rough, any corrections go to reviews. I'll change it if it's wrong. 


	16. 16, in which the Yamis return!

"Yeah, if a bit describes insanity beyond the capacity of all the mental hospitals in Japan." Seto rolled his eyes.

"Right. Well, anyway, I should go find Ryou," Malik sighed, "Before he blows something up..." He ran upstairs.

There was a murmur of agreement as Isis, Rishid, and Mokuba followed him.

"We would explain more..." Yugi began, "but we can't. Sorry." With that, he and Seto swept up the stairs.

Ryou's POV

What the heck is wrong with me?! I trust those two with my life, what's going on that I just...try to get away from them? What am I afraid of?

{}{}{}{Flashback}{}{}{}

/Please, just leave me alone!!/

Rather hard for me to leave something so beautiful alone... especially when it's mine!!

"Who... who are you!!?!!"

"You should know... you belong to me now!!"

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Is... is that why? No! No, they're changed now, it's different! They care about me!!!

Are you sure?

Oh, so my Yami isn't here and I'm making up new voices! Yes, I'm sure! I'm positive, they'd never hurt me!!

Then why did they hurt you before?

You're not my Yami. Go away.

You're normal now. You have to have another questioning voice.

I don't want another questioning voice. I wanna be alone.

You are alone. I'm just alone with you.

Go be alone with someone else!

I can't.

You're evil. I don't like you. Go away, you dislikable evil questioning voice!

$Do you like this voice better?$

No. Now you sound like a girl. Girls don't belong in my head.

Then you're stuck with me. I'm not a ventriloquist, you know.

Be quiet. I'm trying to think.

Then think.

I can't!!

Thankfully, Malik brought me back to the real world.

"Hey, Ryou." He said.

"Hi. What's up?" I replied, even though I knew perfectly well what was up.

"The ceiling. Have you made friends with it yet?" He laughed and sat down on the bed.

"The floor, which is the ceiling downstairs. I guess it counts." Malik put an arm around me, ruffling my hair. He smells good, like the beach. I guess the desert is a beach, sort of... there's a lot of hot sand and palm trees, even if the tree part is only your imagination. "I'm sorry I..." I started to apologize, but Malik waved it off.

"Hey, no big deal. Besides, you were right, you didn't ask for any of this, you just sort of... got it." He told me.

"But... so did you, so my apology still stands." I defended. I was in a rather argumentative mood.

He sighed, "Yeah, right again. Have to tell Bakura, I think he's got a mental scoreboard." This time I laughed. "I imagine he's proud of his hikari, beating the assassin at his own arguments. And in a smarter sounding way than him, just think!"

I smiled up at him, "He better be, I can occasionally beat the master himself. Unless it's about Yami, and then he's just a stubborn ass. I never knew that the fact that Yami Yugi won every duel against us could be used against him."

"Oh, you bet. But I won't get into that right now." He told me. "I wanna know what's going on. I understand... some, but other stuff... well, you know." He cast his eyes down, and I put my arms around his waist, burying my face in his chest.

Sorry if I seemed sort of snappy last chapter... waah!! Blame it on the Sims!

Yusuke: You're a Sim?

Dizzy: Yeah, dimwit, and own Yugioh to boot!!  
Yusuke: You own Yugioh?

Dizzy: GO AWAY!! You're so not a bishie! ...

...

...

I just put a disclaimer with an apology... the apocalypse is coming!!

"Ginny! Ginny, wait, I need to talk to you!" Ron called. Ginny grimaced and quickened her pace. Unfortunately, Ron wasn't one to follow the rules and ran down the hall to her.

"Aren't you supposed to walk?" She said coldly. It wasn't question. Ron cocked his head, completely ignoring the hint. If you could call it a hint, of course. Me, I think of it more as bright neon warning sign.

"I suppose, only, I don't care. Anyway, Ginny, I need to talk to you about that Bakura kid. Don't give me that look, I know you like him! C'mon, we can go find an empty classroom." Not waiting for a response, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into a classroom.

"Well, Gin... this is a bit hard...but you have to understand, you can't go out with him, he's a psychopath!" He told her frantically, preparing himself for a bombardment of questions. Instead, he got a lot of laughter.

"All this just to tell me that!! Oh, Ron, that's funny!! That's rich!!" She calmed herself down. "I'm sorry... it's just... Oh, god, Ron, I've known forever! "Ron raised his eyebrows. "Um, assuming this is about the schizoid thing, right?" Ron nodded. "Yeah, okay. Of course, Ron, you have nothing to worry about. Ryou's only a friend, now anyway, and nothing I don't think is going to happen anytime soon. He's nice... his light side, anyway, but he's got way too many problems than to have to deal with the likes of me, alright?" She told him, still giggling.

"Eh..." Ron didn't know what to say. "Alright..."

"Anyway," Ginny said, "I tend to think of him more as a sociopath."

Yami sighed. "Bakura, I think you had best go back."

Bakura shook his head. "Baka. I can't, I promised Ryou." He answered with a tone of spite in his voice. Bakura was shivering, even under a pile of Kuriboh from the cold of the shadows.

"And since when does that matter?" Yami retorted with equal malevolence. Bakura glared at the pharaoh.

"Since when was it your business!?" He spat.

Yami's POV

Okay...this was weird. That idiot tomb robber is sticking to a promise? Not very Tomb-Robber-ish. Not very tomb robber-ish at all. Ra, what's wrong with this world? I mean, besides the fact that everywhere is a foggy purple and random monsters were hopping/skipping/jumping/running/scurrying/burrowing/crawling etcetera, etcetera... well, everything's wrong here, what do I expect, it's the shadow realm. So... uh... yeah, what's wrong with the not tomb-robber-ish tomb robber to the point that he's not very tomb-robber-ish? Does that even make sense? Nyack, see, I'm questioning myself!! There is something very extremely incredibly wrong going on here.

"Uh... You there? Baka!" A Kuriboh being very rudely thrown at my head drew me out of my thoughts.

"Agh! What was that for?!" I cried, throwing a much less bouncy and soft Baby Dragon back at Bakura. He immediately retaliated with a rather large Jam Breeding Machine. No one knows how he managed to throw it, but he did. Thus, a duel of new proportions began, ending with both of us maniacally laughing.

........................

........................

Laughing... duel... both... those words do not go together. Was I beginning to... beginning to not hate the spirit of the ring? Was that humanly possible?

Ryou did it.

Malik did it.

Yugi did it.

Can I do it?

Yami Bakura's POV

Why am I laughing? I mean, yeah, there's the whole insane tomb-robber thing, but, with the baka pharaoh?

I can't be laughing with him. Never. After what he did!

He doesn't remember... why should I blame him... we're both different, now.

But Kuru Eina...

My family... my friends, my entire village! He destroyed it all, all of it. And then he destroyed me.

No, he didn't kill me. He had the ninety-nine deaths he needed. But he destroyed me all the same. He stole my soul from me to seal away this realm that we're in right now. This place is infinite... but it gets smaller and smaller with every passing second that you remain. You experience every feeling you felt during your life. With every bit of hate there was, it gets colder... I imagine that baka pharaoh was nice and toasty those five thousand years.

I've shut up, and so has the pharaoh. He's staring at me, and I stare right back.

He doesn't understand.

I want to die. I want this never-ending life to be over. Forget want, I need it to be. I despise that annoying little redhead who sings about the sun and tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow is good for them, I don't know. I don't care, either. But for me, tomorrow is always there. The sun won't come out. Well, it might, but that's beside my angsty point. What I mean is, even if the sun does come out, it's still dark for me. I envy those mortals, despite my thing for calling random people that as an insult. They can treasure the days they have. I have forever. It reminds me of that book Ryou once read for class, Tuck Everlasting. A family who could never die, who envied the dying and the dead. The guy in the yellow suit that didn't have a name who was willing to be immortal, the idiot. Immortality only appeals to the living. Immortal and living are not the same thing, as so many try to believe through some grammatical thing or another. It should be an oxymoron. Damn Ryou, putting big words in my thoughts.

It's because you can't stop the hurt. You can't stop the feelings, and you can't forget the ache you don't want. You can never forgive during life. Because forgive is forget, and no one can truly forget. Everyone has this card catalog in their head and when someone wrongs you, you can just go look and throw it in their face.  
Unless, of course, you're a hikari and somewhat of a mental case. But, then again, that goes against my angsty, so angsty point.

Ugh, all this thinking is crazy. I'm STILL staring at that stupid pharaoh. Ra, I hate this place.

(Normal POV)

"Malik, how is he?" Isis questioned, appearing out of seemingly nowhere. Malik jumped and gave a seething glare at his sister, who was completely unaffected.

"Ryou, ya mean? I dunno, ask the fifty million people who asked me first!" He huffed. Isis rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but the rest of the world is so afraid of getting yelled at again." Isis pointed out.

Malik sighed. "Yah, so now Ryou's ant-soldier-death-glare is life threatening, huh. He's fine, like he said, he needed a relatively sane time," He glanced warily at a moving staircase. "Although maybe here isn't the best place to be..." he trailed off.

"Well, that's why us other insane people have to be here, so poor little Ryou-kun can feel normal!" Isis chirped. (A/N: Yes, I know Isis is OOC. I know that Isis does not 'chirp'. Phooey.) Malik crossed his arms.

"I know what you're trying to say. I know, I know, I know. But do me a favor. Just leave him be for now, alright. We already sent off the yamis, so give him a break and let him sort out his thoughts for a while." He looked down at his feet and started to walk off.

She caught up with him. "I understand, otouto. We all care about Ryou-kun and his sadistic Yami. Why else would we pry into his private life until he sounded relatively normal?"  
Malik shook his head.

"Morning!" Ryou cheeped, seemingly bright as ever.

"It's five o'clock, Ryou, go away." Malik hissed, pulling a pillow over his head. Ryou pulled the blankets off him and pulled the curtains off the window.

"C'mon! It's time to not only bring Yami home but also to figure out how the heck Jounouchi got here! Let's go, up, up, up!!" He pulled Malik's hair and lit all the candles in the room with a flick of his wand.

Malik sat up grumpily. "Fine!!" He cried. Ryou gave a satisfied smile and moved on to Seto and Jounouchi. Malik frowned and opened a quick portal to the shadow realm. He crawled in, grabbed the nearest monster and demanded that it go find Yami and Bakura. The lavender-eyed boy slid out of the portal and held it lazily open until the two yamis had clambered out.

"Well, no blood, that's always a good sign." He commented.

Seeing his Yami, Ryou abandoned his futile attempts to wake the other blond boy and jumped upon his darkness. "Yami!!" He cried.

A startled Bakura looked down at his hikari. Never before had anyone been so happy to see him. He wrapped his arms around his aibou, who was nuzzling into his chest.

" 'Kura..." the light murmured.

Malik smiled. Maybe having the yamis away for the weekend was the perfect remedy for the riffs. Wait a minute, wasn't he supposed to like the riffs so that he could have Ryou? Or did he just want Ryou to be happy? Ra, this was confusing him.

Yami hid a pleased look under the smug exterior. Through that cold weekend in the shadow realm, he had seen past Bakura's cool façade, that he really did care underneath it all. They had also investigated the Shadows and found out for sure that Jounouchi had not been through there, but that had nothing to do with the point the authoress is trying to get to.

Behind Yami, a barely awake Yugi was rubbing his eyes and yawning, almost oblivious to the sweet and fluffy scene before him. He plopped down to the floor and started falling back asleep, and would have succeeded if a certain tan Egyptian had not so 'accidentally' kicked him. He glared at the offending blonde and latched onto his own Yami for protection, who also gave a much more intimidating but nonetheless inconsequential glare. (A/N: Whoa, big words for this chapter... Cool...)

Suddenly, Ryou leaped away from his Yami and out of the dorm room. Everyone but Jounouchi, who still was asleep, had a bewildered look on their face. That was, they did until they heard a copious racket in the room next door, which told them that the white-haired teen was having a time waking the boys in that room up. They heard the door of the next room open excitedly and closed lazily, and then the clamber as the boys went downstairs, and back up within ten seconds. Three lethargic teens were thrown into the room, followed by an unusually hyperactive Ryou. The heavy oak door was shut and locked.

"Hello, hello, and good morning to all!" Ryou grinned. The trio nodded stiffly. They looked up, rubbed their eyes simultaneously, and blinked. Bakura and Yami waved sheepishly.

Yugi began to speak, "I know it was a bit weird the other day.. You know, following us around without really knowing why, and then getting the truth without proof. Apparently, Ryou wanted wake everyone within a ten-mile radius up to show off his Yami." Ryou blushed and shrugged. "He was only unsuccessful in the same place anyone else who has ever tried to wake Jounouchi up was. Anyway, Harry, Ron, Hermione, meet Yami and Bakura." He gestured to each of them in turn. "Yami, Bakura, you've already met them. Ryou, can I go back to bed now?"

Ryou shook his head. "Nope, It's Monday, you've got school." He answered in the tone that one would use to explain to a child that one plus one is two. "And, you, Ron, don't bother telling Ginny that she can't date me because I'm a psychopath, she's known since day one and quite frankly doesn't care, although I'm not sure if there is anything anymore since she knows it would be very difficult to keep anything up because of Malik and Yami. My Yami, not Yami Yugi."

Everyone stared in turn at Ryou's abnormal excessively long sentence. Even Jounouchi sort of rolled over.

"How did Ginny know from day one if we're just now learning?" Hermione finally asked.

Malik took the initiative to answer, seeing that no one else really knew either. "Well... Ginny saw Bakura, and Ryou didn't want to erase her mind... right?" Ryou nodded. "Anyway, they sort of got close, Ryou enjoyed having someone else to talk to about, well, everything, and you know what happened from there. Ron, am I right when I say that Ryou's warning about not bothering to tell Ginny was a bit late?"

Ron shrugged. "Yeah, she told me she already knew... basically what Ryou just said."

"Right, and how many times have we already told them?" Yami asked.

"Three and a half." Bakura answered. Yami rolled his eyes.

"Okay, three and a half times you've been told this, and three and a half times your mind has been erased."

Bakura interrupted, "Four times. Once was on accident, though."

Yami sighed, "Four times then, whatever, and we're still depending on you to keep this secret. The last couple of times we didn't think you were ready to find out. However, lately, you've seemed determined to figure it out, or so I've heard. So, naturally, you'd be able to keep it a secret, if you've managed to be told three and half times. I figure you telling Ginny, Ron, doesn't count, since you were looking out for her."

Malik told the three, "It is very extremely absolutely utterly important that you tell absolutely no one. Do not discuss it in public. Don't even think of it unless you have to. It's not as though people can't have access to your thoughts. We are talking about people's lives here." The trio straightened at this comment. "Everyone in this room could be killed... well, almost everybody, forgot about Yami and Bakura... but we could be killed should information leak. It has come very close to happening before."

Ryou closed his eyes and began to speak in a tone unlike the one he had been using. "Everyone who has ever heard of these Items has associated them with games. They are wrong." He took a shaky breath and continued. "Games are meant to be played for fun, for enjoyment. But we play for our lives and the lives of others. We have killed people to save innocents. I have never... never ever done something that hurts more than killing. And there is nothing harder, no matter what they have done. I don't know, perhaps it is my nature because I am a hikari, but I would trade myself any day for the lives of those people."

There was a murmur of agreement. Bakura sat Ryou down and comforted him.

Mokuba spoke up, "I don't play much, and I haven't ever done what they've done, but watching from the sidelines is hard enough. There gets to a point where nobody's right and nobody's wrong."

"He speaks beyond his years," Yami said. "and is correct. When you learn why someone does what they do, there seems to be none guiltier than you."

No one else could speak, but the air buzzed with unspoken words.

Finally, Yugi said, "Everyone has a motive, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and everyone thinks that theirs is the right one. There is not good or evil at that point, nor is there wrong or right. Like I know you have heard, there is only Power, and those who know how to use it. Never doubt your own reasons, because that will be your downfall. Yet, never underestimate the power of the emotions behind your opponents. Eventually, only fate can decide who should go on, and even she is wrong at times." The effect of the light's words was instant. Not a sound could be heard. Everything was still. Even Jou had awaken and was staring at Yugi, respect shining in his eyes.

"Innocence is not always a good thing." Seto whispered. "Innocence can be dark as well."

"The innocent know not better." Bakura agreed.

Harry said softly, "And yet they are the ones who are always hurt..."

TBC

Angsty, oh so angsty... but it was long! Okay, that sounded weird. I don't know how I got to that, it wasn't where I was planning to go. It seems my fingers have a mind of there own.

I'm mad at Cartoon Network. No more Rurouni Kenshin. They are receiving hate mail as we speak. Actually, no they aren't. I'm a scaredy cat and won't send what I right. I know, not cool. But if I had the nerve, they would be, and you know it!! Oh well... At least they have new episodes of YuSorry if I seemed sort of snappy last chapter... waah!! Blame it on the Sims!

Yusuke: You're a Sim?

Dizzy: Yeah, dimwit, and own Yugioh to boot!!  
Yusuke: You own Yugioh?

Dizzy: GO AWAY!! You're so not a bishie! ...

...

...

I just put a disclaimer with an apology... the apocalypse is coming!!

"Ginny! Ginny, wait, I need to talk to you!" Ron called. Ginny grimaced and quickened her pace. Unfortunately, Ron wasn't one to follow the rules and ran down the hall to her.

"Aren't you supposed to walk?" She said coldly. It wasn't question. Ron cocked his head, completely ignoring the hint. If you could call it a hint, of course. Me, I think of it more as bright neon warning sign.

"I suppose, only, I don't care. Anyway, Ginny, I need to talk to you about that Bakura kid. Don't give me that look, I know you like him! C'mon, we can go find an empty classroom." Not waiting for a response, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into a classroom.

"Well, Gin... this is a bit hard...but you have to understand, you can't go out with him, he's a psychopath!" He told her frantically, preparing himself for a bombardment of questions. Instead, he got a lot of laughter.

"All this just to tell me that!! Oh, Ron, that's funny!! That's rich!!" She calmed herself down. "I'm sorry... it's just... Oh, god, Ron, I've known forever! "Ron raised his eyebrows. "Um, assuming this is about the schizoid thing, right?" Ron nodded. "Yeah, okay. Of course, Ron, you have nothing to worry about. Ryou's only a friend, now anyway, and nothing I don't think is going to happen anytime soon. He's nice... his light side, anyway, but he's got way too many problems than to have to deal with the likes of me, alright?" She told him, still giggling.

"Eh..." Ron didn't know what to say. "Alright..."

"Anyway," Ginny said, "I tend to think of him more as a sociopath."

Yami sighed. "Bakura, I think you had best go back."

Bakura shook his head. "Baka. I can't, I promised Ryou." He answered with a tone of spite in his voice. Bakura was shivering, even under a pile of Kuriboh from the cold of the shadows.

"And since when does that matter?" Yami retorted with equal malevolence. Bakura glared at the pharaoh.

"Since when was it your business!?" He spat.

Yami's POV

Okay...this was weird. That idiot tomb robber is sticking to a promise? Not very Tomb-Robber-ish. Not very tomb robber-ish at all. Ra, what's wrong with this world? I mean, besides the fact that everywhere is a foggy purple and random monsters were hopping/skipping/jumping/running/scurrying/burrowing/crawling etcetera, etcetera... well, everything's wrong here, what do I expect, it's the shadow realm. So... uh... yeah, what's wrong with the not tomb-robber-ish tomb robber to the point that he's not very tomb-robber-ish? Does that even make sense? Nyack, see, I'm questioning myself!! There is something very extremely incredibly wrong going on here.

"Uh... You there? Baka!" A Kuriboh being very rudely thrown at my head drew me out of my thoughts.

"Agh! What was that for?!" I cried, throwing a much less bouncy and soft Baby Dragon back at Bakura. He immediately retaliated with a rather large Jam Breeding Machine. No one knows how he managed to throw it, but he did. Thus, a duel of new proportions began, ending with both of us maniacally laughing.

........................

........................

Laughing... duel... both... those words do not go together. Was I beginning to... beginning to not hate the spirit of the ring? Was that humanly possible?

Ryou did it.

Malik did it.

Yugi did it.

Can I do it?

Yami Bakura's POV

Why am I laughing? I mean, yeah, there's the whole insane tomb-robber thing, but, with the baka pharaoh?

I can't be laughing with him. Never. After what he did!

He doesn't remember... why should I blame him... we're both different, now.

But Kuru Eina...

My family... my friends, my entire village! He destroyed it all, all of it. And then he destroyed me.

No, he didn't kill me. He had the ninety-nine deaths he needed. But he destroyed me all the same. He stole my soul from me to seal away this realm that we're in right now. This place is infinite... but it gets smaller and smaller with every passing second that you remain. You experience every feeling you felt during your life. With every bit of hate there was, it gets colder... I imagine that baka pharaoh was nice and toasty those five thousand years.

I've shut up, and so has the pharaoh. He's staring at me, and I stare right back.

He doesn't understand.

I want to die. I want this never-ending life to be over. Forget want, I need it to be. I despise that annoying little redhead who sings about the sun and tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow is good for them, I don't know. I don't care, either. But for me, tomorrow is always there. The sun won't come out. Well, it might, but that's beside my angsty point. What I mean is, even if the sun does come out, it's still dark for me. I envy those mortals, despite my thing for calling random people that as an insult. They can treasure the days they have. I have forever. It reminds me of that book Ryou once read for class, Tuck Everlasting. A family who could never die, who envied the dying and the dead. The guy in the yellow suit that didn't have a name who was willing to be immortal, the idiot. Immortality only appeals to the living. Immortal and living are not the same thing, as so many try to believe through some grammatical thing or another. It should be an oxymoron. Damn Ryou, putting big words in my thoughts.

It's because you can't stop the hurt. You can't stop the feelings, and you can't forget the ache you don't want. You can never forgive during life. Because forgive is forget, and no one can truly forget. Everyone has this card catalog in their head and when someone wrongs you, you can just go look and throw it in their face.  
Unless, of course, you're a hikari and somewhat of a mental case. But, then again, that goes against my angsty, so angsty point.

Ugh, all this thinking is crazy. I'm STILL staring at that stupid pharaoh. Ra, I hate this place.

(Normal POV)

"Malik, how is he?" Isis questioned, appearing out of seemingly nowhere. Malik jumped and gave a seething glare at his sister, who was completely unaffected.

"Ryou, ya mean? I dunno, ask the fifty million people who asked me first!" He huffed. Isis rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but the rest of the world is so afraid of getting yelled at again." Isis pointed out.

Malik sighed. "Yah, so now Ryou's ant-soldier-death-glare is life threatening, huh. He's fine, like he said, he needed a relatively sane time," He glanced warily at a moving staircase. "Although maybe here isn't the best place to be..." he trailed off.

"Well, that's why us other insane people have to be here, so poor little Ryou-kun can feel normal!" Isis chirped. (A/N: Yes, I know Isis is OOC. I know that Isis does not 'chirp'. Phooey.) Malik crossed his arms.

"I know what you're trying to say. I know, I know, I know. But do me a favor. Just leave him be for now, alright. We already sent off the yamis, so give him a break and let him sort out his thoughts for a while." He looked down at his feet and started to walk off.

She caught up with him. "I understand, otouto. We all care about Ryou-kun and his sadistic Yami. Why else would we pry into his private life until he sounded relatively normal?"  
Malik shook his head.

"Morning!" Ryou cheeped, seemingly bright as ever.

"It's five o'clock, Ryou, go away." Malik hissed, pulling a pillow over his head. Ryou pulled the blankets off him and pulled the curtains off the window.

"C'mon! It's time to not only bring Yami home but also to figure out how the heck Jounouchi got here! Let's go, up, up, up!!" He pulled Malik's hair and lit all the candles in the room with a flick of his wand.

Malik sat up grumpily. "Fine!!" He cried. Ryou gave a satisfied smile and moved on to Seto and Jounouchi. Malik frowned and opened a quick portal to the shadow realm. He crawled in, grabbed the nearest monster and demanded that it go find Yami and Bakura. The lavender-eyed boy slid out of the portal and held it lazily open until the two yamis had clambered out.

"Well, no blood, that's always a good sign." He commented.

Seeing his Yami, Ryou abandoned his futile attempts to wake the other blond boy and jumped upon his darkness. "Yami!!" He cried.

A startled Bakura looked down at his hikari. Never before had anyone been so happy to see him. He wrapped his arms around his aibou, who was nuzzling into his chest.

" 'Kura..." the light murmured.

Malik smiled. Maybe having the yamis away for the weekend was the perfect remedy for the riffs. Wait a minute, wasn't he supposed to like the riffs so that he could have Ryou? Or did he just want Ryou to be happy? Ra, this was confusing him.

Yami hid a pleased look under the smug exterior. Through that cold weekend in the shadow realm, he had seen past Bakura's cool façade, that he really did care underneath it all. They had also investigated the Shadows and found out for sure that Jounouchi had not been through there, but that had nothing to do with the point the authoress is trying to get to.

Behind Yami, a barely awake Yugi was rubbing his eyes and yawning, almost oblivious to the sweet and fluffy scene before him. He plopped down to the floor and started falling back asleep, and would have succeeded if a certain tan Egyptian had not so 'accidentally' kicked him. He glared at the offending blonde and latched onto his own Yami for protection, who also gave a much more intimidating but nonetheless inconsequential glare. (A/N: Whoa, big words for this chapter... Cool...)

Suddenly, Ryou leaped away from his Yami and out of the dorm room. Everyone but Jounouchi, who still was asleep, had a bewildered look on their face. That was, they did until they heard a copious racket in the room next door, which told them that the white-haired teen was having a time waking the boys in that room up. They heard the door of the next room open excitedly and closed lazily, and then the clamber as the boys went downstairs, and back up within ten seconds. Three lethargic teens were thrown into the room, followed by an unusually hyperactive Ryou. The heavy oak door was shut and locked.

"Hello, hello, and good morning to all!" Ryou grinned. The trio nodded stiffly. They looked up, rubbed their eyes simultaneously, and blinked. Bakura and Yami waved sheepishly.

Yugi began to speak, "I know it was a bit weird the other day.. You know, following us around without really knowing why, and then getting the truth without proof. Apparently, Ryou wanted wake everyone within a ten-mile radius up to show off his Yami." Ryou blushed and shrugged. "He was only unsuccessful in the same place anyone else who has ever tried to wake Jounouchi up was. Anyway, Harry, Ron, Hermione, meet Yami and Bakura." He gestured to each of them in turn. "Yami, Bakura, you've already met them. Ryou, can I go back to bed now?"

Ryou shook his head. "Nope, It's Monday, you've got school." He answered in the tone that one would use to explain to a child that one plus one is two. "And, you, Ron, don't bother telling Ginny that she can't date me because I'm a psychopath, she's known since day one and quite frankly doesn't care, although I'm not sure if there is anything anymore since she knows it would be very difficult to keep anything up because of Malik and Yami. My Yami, not Yami Yugi."

Everyone stared in turn at Ryou's abnormal excessively long sentence. Even Jounouchi sort of rolled over.

"How did Ginny know from day one if we're just now learning?" Hermione finally asked.

Malik took the initiative to answer, seeing that no one else really knew either. "Well... Ginny saw Bakura, and Ryou didn't want to erase her mind... right?" Ryou nodded. "Anyway, they sort of got close, Ryou enjoyed having someone else to talk to about, well, everything, and you know what happened from there. Ron, am I right when I say that Ryou's warning about not bothering to tell Ginny was a bit late?"

Ron shrugged. "Yeah, she told me she already knew... basically what Ryou just said."

"Right, and how many times have we already told them?" Yami asked.

"Three and a half." Bakura answered. Yami rolled his eyes.

"Okay, three and a half times you've been told this, and three and a half times your mind has been erased."

Bakura interrupted, "Four times. Once was on accident, though."

Yami sighed, "Four times then, whatever, and we're still depending on you to keep this secret. The last couple of times we didn't think you were ready to find out. However, lately, you've seemed determined to figure it out, or so I've heard. So, naturally, you'd be able to keep it a secret, if you've managed to be told three and half times. I figure you telling Ginny, Ron, doesn't count, since you were looking out for her."

Malik told the three, "It is very extremely absolutely utterly important that you tell absolutely no one. Do not discuss it in public. Don't even think of it unless you have to. It's not as though people can't have access to your thoughts. We are talking about people's lives here." The trio straightened at this comment. "Everyone in this room could be killed... well, almost everybody, forgot about Yami and Bakura... but we could be killed should information leak. It has come very close to happening before."

Ryou closed his eyes and began to speak in a tone unlike the one he had been using. "Everyone who has ever heard of these Items has associated them with games. They are wrong." He took a shaky breath and continued. "Games are meant to be played for fun, for enjoyment. But we play for our lives and the lives of others. We have killed people to save innocents. I have never... never ever done something that hurts more than killing. And there is nothing harder, no matter what they have done. I don't know, perhaps it is my nature because I am a hikari, but I would trade myself any day for the lives of those people."

There was a murmur of agreement. Bakura sat Ryou down and comforted him.

Mokuba spoke up, "I don't play much, and I haven't ever done what they've done, but watching from the sidelines is hard enough. There gets to a point where nobody's right and nobody's wrong."

"He speaks beyond his years," Yami said. "and is correct. When you learn why someone does what they do, there seems to be none guiltier than you."

No one else could speak, but the air buzzed with unspoken words.

Finally, Yugi said, "Everyone has a motive, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and everyone thinks that theirs is the right one. There is not good or evil at that point, nor is there wrong or right. Like I know you have heard, there is only Power, and those who know how to use it. Never doubt your own reasons, because that will be your downfall. Yet, never underestimate the power of the emotions behind your opponents. Eventually, only fate can decide who should go on, and even she is wrong at times." The effect of the light's words was instant. Not a sound could be heard. Everything was still. Even Jou had awaken and was staring at Yugi, respect shining in his eyes.

"Innocence is not always a good thing." Seto whispered. "Innocence can be dark as well."

"The innocent know not better." Bakura agreed.

Harry said softly, "And yet they are the ones who are always hurt..."

TBC

Angsty, oh so angsty... but it was long! Okay, that sounded weird. I don't know how I got to that, it wasn't where I was planning to go. It seems my fingers have a mind of there own.

I'm mad at Cartoon Network. No more Rurouni Kenshin. They are receiving hate mail as we speak. Actually, no they aren't. I'm a scaredy cat and won't send what I right. I know, not cool. But if I had the nerve, they would be, and you know it!! Oh well... At least they have new episodes of YuYu Hakusho...


End file.
